Secrets
by JulyB96
Summary: Kronos is back, but this time he is taking a different approach and of course none other than Percy Jackson is involved. With his friends at his side Percy has to fight for not only his life, but their parents as well . . . literally.
1. Chapter 1

This is my first time using this site, so sorry for all the bad grammar mistakes and everything, I promise to get better. Well, I hope you enjoy!

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><p>Percy Jackson: SECRETS<p>

Percy:

Hey did you know it sucks keeping secrets? Well most people think it's great to have secrets, well let me tell you something. NO IT IS NOT. Especially if one of your best friends is suffering from it. Then again we were all suffering, but Thalia was the worst. Nico, Thalia, and I were the ones who shared this terrible secret alone. Lately, we've been having the same dreams to. This tends to get a little annoying when things get personal, like the other night I was dreaming that Annabeth and I were kissing and well you get the picture. And let's just say the next day I could tell that Nico and Thalia had knew what had happened in my dream, and things were kind of awkward.

So, as I was saying we have had the same dreams, and most of the time there only about one person. Kronos. Yes, you heard me. He's been tormenting me and my cousins for months on end, ever since he was defeated. I don't know how long it had been since the war had ended; I wasn't keeping track of the days, but I would say it had been a little over two years. We tried telling Chiron, but he wouldn't listen. We even tried contacting the gods, but they said that if Kronos had come back that fast they would have known. So, now I was sitting at my table at the dining pavilion, sleepy and miserable, waiting for Capture the Flag to start.

"Hey, Percy." Thalia said, approaching. Okay, I know what you're thinking. Isn't Thalia a Hunter of Artemis? Yes. The hunters were staying here for awhile because Artemis (and all the other gods and goddesses) were out searching the world for the minor godlings that had switched to the titans side. I would hate to see what happened to them.

"Hey, Thalia you okay?" I how I said Thalia was getting the worst out of this. Well, last night Kronos showed us all a picture of Luke. He said that Luke was alive, but he was in unbearable pain and that he would be showing up sometime today. Thalia woke up crying so much that she moved into Zeus's cabin and stayed there trying not to wake up any campers. But all though no one heard her Nico and I did. I stayed with her while Nico went to the Underworld and checked to see if Luke was actually alive. By the time he got back my shirt was soaked with Thalia's tears. I could jump into the ocean and come out completely dry, but I wasn't resistant to tears, go figure. Anyway, Nico came back and said that Luke was most definitely alive. He probably knew that the whole time, but with everything we've been through the past couple years, checking just to see if your right wouldn't hurt.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just don't talk about it." Thalia stuttered and almost, just almost started crying again but she swallowed back the tears. You must be wondering, isn't a Hunter of Artemis supposed to care less about boys? Correct, but the thing is Thalia has feelings for Luke. I just recently figured that out. Who knew? I don't think anyone did, not even Annabeth. And the real reason Thalia joined the hunters is to try and forget Luke. Honestly, I don't think that was Thalia's best move and honestly I'm thinking Artemis is going to be losing one of her hunters very, very soon.

"Okay, whatever." I agreed.

"Percy, do you think he'll show up? Do you think he's really in pain? What if he is? Oh Percy, what if he had to go through the same thing we did?" Just the mention of that subject made tears form at the corners of her eyes, but she quickly wiped them away.

"Don't worry. I honestly don't know what's going to happen, but Nico and I will be there for you all the way." Wow, that was cheesy.

"Thank you," She said just as Annabeth walked up. "I'll . . . leave you too alone."

"Thalia, you don't have to go!" Annabeth said, calling after her. And being Thalia, she pretended not to hear.

"She probably didn't hear you." I said, standing up.

"Why does she always leave, when I'm with you?" She asked, frowning.

"Because she probably doesn't want to see her best friend being kissed by her cousin." I told her, which of course made her smile.

"But we aren't kissing yet." She said.

"Yet." I said, and wrapped my arms around her waist pulling her closer.

"Thalia is definitely not going to come back, now." She said right before our lips met. She intertwined her finger behind my neck, while I knotted my fingers in her hair. Pretty much everyone knew about me and Annabeth, and let's just say we weren't the most boring topic in camp. So, kissing in front of everyone was probably not a good idea, but who cares. I think I could of stayed like that forever, but Chiron blew the horn that meant we had to get ready for Capture the Flag.

"See you soon." Annabeth said breaking away. I watched her leave and then shook off my totally 'appropriate' feelings and made my way down to the forest like everyone else. Well, time to play Capture the Flag. 'Be careful boy, surprises await you.' Kronos voice said in my mind, but I just shook it off and kept walking.


	2. Chapter 2

Percy Jackson: SECRETS- Chap. 2

Thalia:

This was the longest Capture the Flag ever. I could barely keep running and somehow I ended up lost, with Nico. My senses were on high and my mind was just wandering back to Luke so I couldn't really focus on the game. I didn't even really know which side I was on, but it didn't really matter because suddenly Percy scream broke the midnight air and my adrenaline started to give me added strength.

"Come on." Nico said running in front of me.

"Oh no." I said to myself. It's happening he's here. He must be in so much pain. 'Child, you have no idea.' Kronos voice said in my head. Go away! Go away you bastard! I said to him on the verge of tears once again. I hadn't realized how fast Nico and I were running but soon enough we broke into the clearing. I was frozen looking at the scene before me. Percy was in the middle of the creek fighting at least thirty dracaena. And on the other side of the creek was Luke, withering in pain. I ran, I ran as fast as I could across the creek but for some reason my mind kept telling me that I still had so far to go, and my legs couldn't take me there fast enough. Finally I was at his side and I grabbed his hand feeling the tremors go up my arm. He was shaking that bad.

"Th-Thalia what's happening t-to m-m-me?" Luke asked. Tears welled in my eyes and splashed to the ground. "D-Don't c-c-cry."

"Oh, Luke I'm so sorry. I didn't want this to happen to you. It's all my fault." I cried.

"No, it's not-Ah!" He screamed, and I watched helpless as his chest rose from the earth and then slumped back down looking more lifeless than ever.

"Luke, I-I-I'm sorry." I said hanging my head unable to say more and I just stayed there frozen. I lifted my head in time to see Chiron and Annabeth break through the trees with some other campers who immediately assisted helping Nico and Percy, and then I blacked out.

Luke:  
>I couldn't see much everything was tinted red. But what I think I saw was Annabeth and Chiron telling campers to get Thalia and me to the infirmary. A bunch of campers were coming to take me to the infirmary but they shouldn't have touched me. Once they died I yelped in pain, and loud. What was going on? My insides were burning, my muscles felt like they were on fire, my bones felt like they were all broken. And yet, I still felt like running. Running as fast as could to cool the fire inside. I didn't realize it but all of a sudden I was on my feet, and I was preparing to get ready for a sprint when Percy yelled for them to stop me. Everyone jumped on me. I blacked out.<p>

Thalia:  
>"Thalia, wake up." Someone said. I opened my eyes and realized it was Annabeth.<p>

"Hey, Annabeth, what's up?" I asked looking around the room. Of course, I was in the infirmary. Memories came back to me like a flash flood. Luke!

"Where's Luke?" I exclaimed. Annabeth turned to the cot right next to mine. Luke was . . . tied down. What could he possibly do when he was in so much pain? I got off my cot and started to untie the knot that was around his legs, when Percy walked in.

"Thalia, don't!" Percy yelled.

"Why?"

"If you untie him he's just going to start running again."

"Well, so if he wants to run he can!" I yelled a little louder.

"Thalia, think about it. Who is his dad?"

"Hermes!" I screamed. Then I was silenced, by a bright blinding light.

"I think you said his name a little too loud." Percy whispered, just before we were thrown back a heavy wind.


	3. Chapter 3

Percy Jackson- SECRETS- Chap. 3

Percy:

"Hermes!" Thalia screamed. Then I was blinded by a giant white light.

"I think you said his name a little too loud." I said. I was blown back by a gust of air, and when I opened my eyes there he was. Lord Hermes and Lord Hades? Wait. Luke supposed to be dead that's why.

"What is going on here? What are you doing to my son?" Hermes shouted. Oh man . . . I don't like were this is going. 'Have fun child, remember, you could beat him easily. You have the power to.' Kronos laughed. 'Never.' I spit back.

"I don't know, Lord Hermes. Luke just appeared last night, during capture the flag." Annabeth spoke up. I sighed internally. Annabeth had been all worried about Luke, what about us? I don't want to get jealous but . . . still.

"I want answers, after what he has been through he shouldn't have been able to come back to life by himself." Hades spoke up. Oh shit! He came back to life! By himself! Well, I guess I can kiss becoming 18 good bye. I'll be dead by then; my dad will already have murdered me.

"But how are we supposed to know what happened?" I asked.

"Something tells me you do, Jackson." Mr.D said entering the infirmary.

"Why me? How would I know?" I asked him.

"You, and those other kids, you all have headaches every day. Exhaustion, confusion—don't give me that look Jackson! I specialize in madness; it's not that hard to tell if a demi-god is being harassed in their dreams." Mr. D yelled.

"Oh please." Thalia muttered standing up.

"You are another one of them. Hm, who was it again? Ah, yes. It was you, Jackson, and the Di' Angelo boy." Mr.D said, probably thinking we were going to get into a lot of trouble. We probably were but still.

"What?" Hades asked, looking at Thalia and me.

"Nothing, he's lying." Thalia said.

"Don't test me, girl," Mr.D said, his turning the dark purple they usually do when he's mad. "The others are on their way." He said turning to Hermes and Hades. What?

"The rest of the Gods," Hermes answered my thought."It seems we have something to talk about and my son is in no condition to move. It's almost as if he was . . . no, that can't be it." He guessed it, the secret we have been trying so hard to hide. I could see it in his eyes, he knew.

"Thalia." I called to her. She looked at me, we shared a brief discussion in each other's eyes, then I looked at Luke. He was still trying to break free from the ropes. Thalia understood.

"Annabeth, I'm sorry." I said to her. Then I yelled the one word that would probably end all of us.

**"RUN!"**

And with that Thalia, ripped the ropes of Luke and followed him as he ran. Ran as fast as he could, as fast as Hermes himself. As fast as a god.

"How did he just-" Hermes said unable to finish the sentence. I didn't have much time. I grabbed Annabeth by the wrist and dragged her out of the infirmary.

"Percy Jackson!" Hades bellowed. He started walking towards us; no doubt he knew what was going on.

"Annabeth," I said to her. "Please, promise me that you will listen to me right now, go find Clarisse. Tell her what happened and just listen to her, please."

"Clarisse? No, Percy I want answers!" Annabeth yelled at me. Hades was only a dozen feet away now.

"Annabeth if you don't listen to me now, there won't be any answers." I said. Annabeth looked at

me, understanding what I was saying.

"I promise, just come back Seaweed Brain." She said, and then she took off into camp. Before i could be relieved for at least a second, Hades grabbed my shoulder. His hand was burning, like lava.

"That really burns my shoulder." I said through my teeth. I knew exactly what he was doing. He knew, I can't believe this. Why did everything always have to end badly?

"Shut up, it's the exact same thing I would do if I was fighting with your father." He said. Then suddenly there they were, on top of Half-Blood Hill, all of them. Perfect.

"Hades, what are you doing to my son?" My father called, walking down the hill followed by the other gods and goddesses. Thalia got away, now its my our turn. But where the hell was Nico?

"Let go of me." I told the Lord of the Dead.

"You don't have to ask, boy." He said. I looked down at the cabins in desperate search for Nico. Yes! I spotted him; he was walking straight towards the Hades cabin.

"Nico, they figured it out!" I screamed. He turned, and saw me, saw his dad, saw the gods. And there was only one word in his eyes. Run.

"Hades let him go. What? What has he done, it can't be that bad?" Poseidon said behind us. Well, I have one shot at this. Here it goes. I summoned the sea from within and elbowed my Uncle in the chest, sending him back a few yards. I shouldn't have been able to do that. Damn. I made a desperate look at the Gods, they were . . . puzzled.

"Stop them!" Hermes shouted, finally coming out of the infirmary. Ares was the first to come out of the daze, he made a desperate grab for my arm, but all I had to do was kick him the chest and he went flying.

"Percy! Run!" Nico yelled already running towards a tree. Two seconds later he disappeared into mist. Shadow Travel. Of course, I ran for the ocean. Before I could sink under the waves, I heard lightning crack through the air. They figured it out all of them, nowhere was safe anymore. As I touched the bottom of the seabed, I started out with a sprint towards the island. The one place I would be safe . . . until the gods found us.


	4. Chapter 4

Thank you for the reviews! ^^ The chapters will be uploaded more quickly because I've been writing this series a lot longer on another site and now I'll be able to upload a chapter or two a day. And again, I'm sorry if I'm not using Fanfiction correct, I'm trying me best.

Thank you for reading! :)

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><p>Percy Jackson- SECRETS -Chap. 3<p>

Annabeth:

What. was. going. on? I had no idea, but I still listened to Percy and ran into camp looking for Clarisse. Yeah, Clarisse . . . why the hell did Percy ask me to go get Clarisse? Uh, look at me I'm acting all jealous again, but everyone gets jealous sometimes, right? I pushed aside my random jumbled thoughts and focused on finding the brown haired boxer. There she was talking to her boyfriend, well her new boyfriend Pollux, Son of Dionysus. Things hadn't been working out between her and Chris, so they broke up, and she started going out with Pollux. Only the gods know what they were doing breaking curfew every other night. Focus, Annabeth, focus. I'd reached Clarisse and grabbed her by both shoulders.

"Tell me what's going on!" I yelled at her.

"Whoa, back it up Smart Blonde. What are you talking about?" She asked.

"I'm talking about how Luke came back and Hermes and Hades are all freaked out because Mr.D said that Thalia, Percy, and Nico were having headaches at night and then Percy told me to come find you and tell you what happened because Hades was furious because Luke and Thalia started running from camp at like 200 miles an hour!" I screamed, almost out of breath by the time I finished. I looked at Clarisse and before I could even react to the fear in her eyes she grabbed my wrist and headed back towards the cabins.

"Where's Percy?" She asked me.

"I don't know! The last I saw him Hades was walking toward him all mad and stuff!" I was in definite panic mode right now, but why? Children of Athena are not supposed to panic. They always had plan.

"God's kill him!" She shouted.

"I don't think that's going to be a problem." Pollux said. I just noticed he had followed us and was pointing to the infirmary. Right outside were all twelve Olympian gods, including Hades. Why hadn't I known Pollux had been following us, and why hadn't I noticed the gods? I'm never this oblivious.

"Oh no," Clarisse whispered. "Annabeth, are you okay? You don't look to good." I didn't? So many questions, but I had to answer one of my own at least. I looked down and I seemed fine, but I silently checked my insides. I had a slight stomach ache, but that was probably from the excitement going on right now. I looked at Clarisse again and her eyes widened. "Pollux, go find Kate and Jessica. Now."

Her voice had a commanding tone to it. One I hadn't heard her use, but I couldn't really care. The sickly feeling in my stomach had moved to my head and turned into a headache. I rubbed my temples.

"Ow." My voice was weak. Clarisse came over to me and had me sit down on the cool, hard earth. She put her arm around me like she knew what I was going through and was scared for me. What the fuck is going on? Clarisse is never one to care. Something is seriously wrong.

"Get away from my daughter." Me and Clarisse looked up at my mother. She was pissed. All the Olympians were pissed. When am I going to get some answers?

"No." I looked at Clarisse, eyes wider than an owls. Did she just defy a goddess, only Percy does that, and it never ends well.

"Step aside, Clarisse." Her father commanded. She looked him straight in the eye.

"No." Did she just say no? To her own dad! This is getting creepy.

"What did you just say?" Her father growled.

"She's one of them, she's cursed to!" Mr.D screamed. Clarisse screamed in response, I couldn't tell what she was saying though. I could barely see her, the whole world was cloudy, and my head was throbbing. Talk about a head cold. It was like a bunch of information was just pouring into my head at once. There was an explosion and I fell to the ground. Before i knew it Clarisse was at my side, putting one of my arms over her shoulders and pulling me up.

"Annabeth, we have to get out of here. I can't fight all of them. You have to help me." Clarisse said to me.

"How? And what do you mean, are you fighting the gods? Why?" I asked, to many questions and not enough answers.

"I can't tell you right now. You just have to trust me." She said, and looked behind her, clearly terrified. No.

"No." I said, pushing away from her.

"What?" She looked back at me.

"No, I won't help you, not until I get some answers." I said.

"Please Annabeth, you have to. I can't explain everything right now, but please we have to get out of here before-" She was cut off by someone grabbing her by the neckline on her t-shirt.

"You are in big trouble." Ares said, and to my surprise Clarisse's eyes teared at the edges.

"Let go of her," A voice said from behind me. I turned around to see what the Olympians already had. It was Pollux, he looked different. He looked...more ripped, that was a definite. I'd never seen him like this. "I said let go of her."

"What are you going to do?" Ares taunted. Before I had time to blink a grape vine shot out of the ground and wrapped itself around Ares wrist. The god dropped Clarisse and tried to break the vine, but it just wrapped around his other wrist and then flung him backward. I gaped, Pollux was able to grow grape vines of course, but making a grape vine that looked that strong. I've never seen such a thing.

"Pollux now!" Clarisse screamed. I turned around to look at Pollux, then everything went black.


	5. Chapter 5

Who likes Thuke/Thaluke? I know I do! :3

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><p>Percy Jackson- SECRETS- Chap. 5<p>

Annabeth:

I didn't know what was going on. I was able to open my eyes from time to time, but all I could make out was a bunch of hushed whispers and being carried a lot. After awhile I smelled sea water and saw what looked like a castle. It was beautiful, but at the same time it shimmered like it wasn't even there. My head was pounding and someone touched it lightly.

"Where almost there Annabeth?" The women sounded like Clarisse.

I decided to keep my eyes closed.

Thalia:

One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four. I couldn't keep up with him, even if I used the wind to propel me forward, I couldn't keep up with him. He was too fast. I tried screaming for him to slow down...again.

"Luke! Please slow down! I will explain everything if you just slow down so I can talk to you! Please slow down!" Nothing, it's like he didn't even hear me. I was breathing heavy; if I kept running much longer I would pass out.

"Luke!" I screamed.

Luke:

I couldn't help myself, running just felt so good. It made me feel as if I was free. I didn't have to listen to anyone or anything. Except this little thing that kept telling me to stop. It kept screaming 'Luke, Luke!' and I didn't know what it was. The voice sounded familiar, but it was definitely someone I hadn't talked to in a really long time. Every time the thing spoke my chest ached with need. I turned my head back to take a look at. .whatever it was. It was a girl; she was wearing black jeans, a silver jacket, and silver hiking boots. Not very stylish, it didn't look like it fit her just right.

She screamed again, waving her hand in the air. What was she saying? It sounded like she wanted me to stop. How could she ask me to stop? Running was too good to stop, and it cooled the fire in my veins. I strained my eyes trying to get a better look at her face. She was definitely a demi-god, no doubt about that. She had tan skin, black hair, and blue eyes. Her eyes were amazing; they looked like the perfect shade of sky and electric blue mixed together. I remember staring into eyes like those, never being able to speak the words that were always caught at the back of my throat. Her eyes looked just like—Thalia. Thalia! Thalia was running to catch up to me. In a millisecond all thoughts rushed back into my head, all the thoughts that running had taken away.

Oh no. I had betrayed her. I had taken Krono's side and betrayed the gods. What would Thalia think of me? She wouldn't want me, the same way I wanted her. I could never have that again. But I needed her. These thoughts just made me run faster. I ran and ran until I finally came to a cliff edge. I was trapped, I'd have to-

"Luke," No. I turned around to see Thalia's body fall to the floor. "Luke," She coughed. She wasn't able to run as fast as me, I hurt her again. "Luke, please listen to-" I interrupted.

"I'm sorry!" I screamed. "I'm sorry that I betrayed the gods, and Annabeth, and Camp-Half Blood! And I'm sorry I betrayed you Thalia, but I couldn't help it! You almost died, and your own father did nothing! I just wanted you back, and that's what Kronos promised me...soon enough I wasn't even able to leave. I'm sorry." I whispered the last line, and looked at Thalia. She was sitting on the ground, trying to catch her breath, looking at me.

"Luke . . ." She said to me. I looked at her for a long time, waiting for her to continue. But as time passed I couldn't stop myself when I finally walked over to her, kneeled down, and kissed her; hard and quick. I broke away and sat back on my heels to look at her. The silver jacket and boots were gone; instead she was wearing black boots and sky blue T-shirt with a black lightning bolt on it. Oh no, she had been one of the hunters. I got her kicked out of the hunters, she was never going to forgive me now—

Thalia fisted my t-shirt and pulled me back down. She kissed me, again and again. She kissed me back! She did want me, she didn't hate me! My body was on fire again, but this time I didn't feel burnt, I felt warm.

Percy:

I paced back and forth, in the main hall. Stay calm, stay calm. My mind kept coming back to Annabeth. She should be fine, she wasn't cursed like me. The gods wouldn't harm her, but I couldn't help worrying.

"Perc!" Nico called from the infirmary wing. There was a hushed conversation and some shuffling. I ran to the infirmary and what I saw stopped me dead in my tracks. Nico and Pollux were talking with Kate and Jessica in the corner of the room. Clarisse was sitting next to one of the beds that were set up in here. Lying on the bed was Annabeth, shivering and clutching the sides of her head like it might explode.

I silently cursed my grandfather to go to the pits of Tartarus...again.


	6. Chapter 6

Percy Jackson- SECRETS- Chap. 6

Percy:

Annabeth was trembling uncontrollably, and there was nothing I could do. My limbs were numb and cold as walked to the side of the bed, and kneeled down. Annabeth was facing me and I saw the tears in her eyes. 'See what's become of your beloved? Give in boy, there is no going back. Let your parents die.'

"Get out of my head!" I shouted to Kronos, out loud. Pollux raised an eyebrow at me, but I shook it off. Zoe Nightshade came in and kneeled next to me.

"So you all finally made it back here." She said, and brushed Annabeth's hair out of her face, looking concerned.

"We couldn't keep it a secret forever, it's not like people thought we were dead, Zoe." I said.

"True, but I'm not dead." She replied.

"Oh, you know what I meant," I said, waving my hand in the air. "Is there anything you can do to help her?"

"I don't know. Annabeth will be very difficult, since Athena's knowledge is being transferred to Annabeth, her mind needs to adjust so the all the new information can be held. It won't be pleasant." Zoe explained.

"No, no, no." I cried, and dropped my face into my hands.

"It's not your fault Percy, none of us could have stopped this. Don't beat yourself up over it, you get too stressed." Jessica said meeting my eyes as I lifted my head.

"Since when are you sympathetic?" Nico asked.

"I've always been sympathetic, just not to you." Jessica laughed, poking Nico in the stomach.

"Why you little—" Nico muttered grabbing Jessica by the waist.

"Stop! Stop!" Jessica laughed.

"Excuse me." Kate said, standing up and looking both of them in the eye.

"Uhh . ." They said in unison, and ran out of the room. Kate sighed.

"They can get really annoying." She muttered.

"There is nothing I can do, we just have to wait it out. I'm sorry." Zoe said, standing up. I scooted closer to the head of the bed. Now I was face to face with Annabeth.

"Guys, let's go." Kate said. They were going to give me time alone with Annabeth. I thanked them inside my head, as I watched them file out. Once they were gone i kissed Annabeth's cheek, damp from all the tears, lightly.

"I'm so sorry." I whispered to her, and let a few tears of my own roll down my cheeks.

Thalia:

I don't know how long we had been kissing. Minutes? Hours? Days! I wouldn't have cared anyway. I couldn't get enough, and when we broke apart for air it just left me wanting more. I think we could have kept kissing forever, if it hadn't started to rain. We broke apart and both looked up to the sky.

"How did that happen? It's been sunny all day." Luke said.

"The gods are angry." I sighed, I'd wanted to avoid this conversation, but I guess there was no helping it now.

"Why?" He asked.

"Would you accept a 'I don't know'?" I asked.

"No. Is it because I'm alive? Because I don't know why I am, honestly" He said.

"Actually it's all of us." I said.

"What do you mean?" We had been on the floor, so he pulled us into a sitting position, and put me in his lap.

"I mean, there mad at all of us."

"But why?"

"Luke, have you ever heard of a Transfer Curse?" I asked.

"No. What is it?"

"It's a curse that allows the cursed to have power transferred to them from a chosen source."

"Okay, so what does this have to do with us? Wait, your saying we're cursed. With this transfer spell thing." He said.

"Yes." I replied.

"But I still don't understand why the gods are mad at us."

"Well, if we are the cursed ones, then we can have powers transferred to our bodies." I explained.

"And..." He motioned for me to continue.

"And since the gods are mad at us, whose power do you think is being transferred to us?" I asked.

"Umm...The Gods," I nodded. "Oh, okay then the gods, but I still don't see..OH CRAP!"

"Get it now?" I asked.

"Ye-ye-yeah," He stammered. "So that's why I ran so fast-and you- wait what about you!"

"What about me?"

"You're cursed to!"

"So?" I asked.

"So, can you like . . you know . . shoot lightning and what not." He said.

"I was able to do that before." I giggled.

"I know, but is it like stronger now?"

"Yes, but now I can do a lot more than hit people with volts of electricity." I stood up and walked to the edge of the cliff, with Luke trailing behind.

"So, what are we going to do now? I mean are parents are mad at us so we can't go to them for help. How can we get rid of the curse? And who cursed us anyway?" He said.

"I think that would be better discussed with everyone else, and the person who cursed us, well it was Kronos." I said.

"Well, when are we going to meet everyone else?" Luke asked, grimacing at the mention of my grandfather.

"In about sixty-seconds."

"Wait—what?" Luke asked, getting anxious.

"I told you I could do more than hit people with lightning."

"What are you getting at—AHHHH!" And we disappeared in a gust of wind.

Nico:

"Were in trouble." I said.

"That's pretty obvious, but I might as well just ask, why?" Jessica said, scooting closer to me while we relaxed on my bed.

"It's getting worse, and now our parents know." I said.

"What do you mean by that?" Jess asked, lifting her head from the pillow to look at me in the eyes.

"I mean that if we don't stop this curse soon, were going to have to much power to deal with and were going to die, and our parents are going to die with us." I said.

"How do you know this?" She said, putting her head on my chest.

_"I can see our deaths."_


	7. Chapter 7

Percy Jackson- SECRETS- Chap. 7

Olympus Throne Room:

"What are we going to do?" Aphrodite panicked.

"Calm down!" Artemis said. "You're such a drama queen."

"I have a right to be a drama queen about this!" Aphrodite exclaimed.

"Why? There is no reason to panic."

"Yes, there is!"

"Fine, why should we?" Artemis exclaimed.

"Because if they take our powers, and trust me they could, then were just all going to disappear. FOREVER!" Aphrodite screamed. A window probably shattered somewhere.

"Well it sucks for you, doesn't it? I have no children, and my lieutenant is gone." Artemis said, frowning about her lieutenant.

"Why the hell are you frowning!" Ares bellowed. "Just because you lost one of your precious little hunters!"

"Yes! It's not their fault!"

"So what? I can't wait to find them all and torture each and every one separately! How dare they try and steal a god's power!" Ares screamed, clenching and unclenching his fist.

"You think saying that is going to make them less scared?" Demeter screamed. "There probably hiding right now! My own daughter. . she just ran . ."

"Are you kidding? Why would they run? You saw my son; he flipped Ares on his back like he was a rag doll!" Dionysus said, chuckling a little at the end.

"Shut up." Ares said, punching Dionysus in the arm. Athena had been silent throughout the entire discussion. She couldn't stop replaying the picture in her head, the picture of her daughter clenching the sides of her head like it might explode. She would have stayed silent if someone hadn't called her name.

"What?" Athena said, a little annoyed.

"What do you think we should do?" Hermes repeated.

"I don't know." Everyone stared at Athena in shock. "What?"

"You always have a plan." Apollo said.

"Well this time I don't." Athena said, and there was silence.

The throne room stayed quiet.

Luke:

The last thing I remember was standing on a cliff with Thalia, and the next thing I know I'm sucked into a whirlwind and are now standing in front of a castle. . . thing. It kept like flashing in the sunlight, like it was there but it was too bright so you just don't want to look at it sort of thing.

"Hey, what is this thing?" I asked Thalia. She inhaled deeply.

"Home." She sighed.

"Home?" I questioned.

"Yes, home. It's the only place that our parents can't find us."

"How come?" I asked.

"Have you noticed that it's like really bright, and it keeps shifting? Like it's not even there." She asked.

"Um, yeah. It's pretty obvious." I said and she laughed.

"It's so good to hear you laugh again." I said, grabbing her by the waist, and kissing her lightly on the nose. She giggled.

"It's good to be near you again." She said a buried her face in my chest. I hugged her tighter; nothing was going to rip us apart again. We broke apart. "Come on, if we don't get under cover soon our parents will find us."

"What are you talking about? We're here aren't we?" I asked.

"Yes, but were not under the shield."

"Wait, you're telling me that you want to run into the giant shining castle?" I asked. She nodded slowly. "But we'll be blinded!"

"No, we won't. Come on." She took my hand and pulled me forward. The light got brighter and brighter until I couldn't see anymore. When it finally looked like a super nova the light suddenly died, and the next thing I was looking at was a castle. Well not a castle, more of a really big mansion. It was. . . amazing, and coming from a guy, well then you can see how amazing it was. I was staring at the mansion when I realized that Thalia was no longer standing next to me.

"Thalia? Thalia?" I called as I turned in a circle, and stopped. My heart froze over as I stared at Thalia . .facing her father. No. It looked like he only saw Thalia. Oh wait, the shield of course. What am I going to do? I can't just go out there . . .her dad will just blast me on the spot . .the mansion! Everyone has to be in there!

I ran at the speed of light, literally, and as I opened the door I crashed into someone. He had a black t-shirt on, and black jeans. Only one person can dress like that, Nico.

"Nico! You got to help Thalia, she's out there with her dad!" I screamed. Nico bolted for the door and I just stood there, dazed.

Nico:

No! I was looking straight at the Lord of the Sky and he didn't notice me. Thank gods for the shield. Now all I have to do is get Thalia out of there before they start fighting. If I step out of the shield he'll see me. Dang it, if only I could get in and out without him seeing me. Hmm . . Shadow Travel! If I can keep myself in the shadows. . sure he would know it's me, but he wouldn't see us just disappear into the shield. Ok. One, two, three! I went through the shadows and right before I was able to see daylight I grabbed Thalia by the arm and went back through. Ow, my head.

"Thank you, Nico." Thalia said, as my vision came back into focus.

"Welcome." We both looked back to see a very confused, and very angry god.

"So, is everyone here?" Thalia said as we started to walk back to the mansion.

"Yea...everyone."

"Even Annabeth?" Thalia asked.

"Yea, but she has a little headache."

"Little? How big is little?"

"Volcano erupting little." I said, right before Thalia bolted for the infirmary. "Thalia, come on leave them alone!" I said, and ran after her.

"You know I'm not that kind of person, Skeleton!" She screamed. I heaved a big sigh and kept running. I had enough time to stop before I hit a motionless Thalia who was staring at a scrunched up Annabeth. Crap.


	8. Notice

Notice: This isn't a story chapter, sorry. :( My compter crashed and that computer has all my story files on it, so I won't be able to upload them for awhile, but I am going to continue the story. It just might be a few days until you see another chapter.

I'll be back! I promise!


	9. Chapter 8

Percy Jackson- SECRETS- Chap. 8

Annabeth:

Ok, it was really hard to describe how I felt right now. My entire body felt perfectly normal, like it would any other day. But my head felt like its insides had gone through a avalanche, covered in lava, then frozen, and put into a blender. It was so weird! I didn't know what was going on and I'm pretty sure I was crying.

The weird thing was, if this counted as a headache it would be the opposite of normal. Normal headaches are when your head really hurts, and you go to sleep and it's all better. No. My "headache" kept me fully awake and in pain; that's not even the worst part! My mind wasn't just blank nothingness and pain. I had to sit and watch random facts fly through my head! ...I guess there is nothing I can do but wait. So, I waited.

I waited, and waited. I wish these facts would tell me what time it was. Somewhere outside my little world of pain I heard someone's voice.

"She's coming to." The mystery voice said.

"How do you know?" Another chimed in.

"Who's my dad?" The voice said.

"Shut up, Lee." The other said, sounding a little mad. Wait. Lee, as in Lee Fletcher? He died years ago. .didn't he?

"Who's my dad?" Yep, that was definitely Lee. .but how? I watched his shroud go up in flames! "Who's my dad?" Lee taunted. Well, Apollo of course. While I was listening to their conversation I started to hear some commotion.

"No, Zoe, come on. I was just trying to annoy you! There's no need to-" Lee was cut off by a noise that sounded a lot like a kick to the stomach.

"Oh mother, someone please help me. Ow, my nuts." And with that there was a thump on the floor, which was probably Lee falling on the floor. Oh, correction a kick to the nuts. I laughed all though that only caused me more pain.

"See! I made her laugh." Lee said, obviously struggling to get into a sitting position.

"And that probably just put her in more pain you immature buffoon." Zoe said. Wait, Zoe? Oh yeah! Lee said her name before! But isn't she supposed to be dead to? Uh! I can't stand not knowing! I suddenly noticed that the pain was receding from my skull. The facts started to sort out, faster and faster before my eyes, but it didn't hurt anymore. I tried opening my eyes, the light stung a little and the first thing I saw was a pair of sea-green eyes.

"Percy."

Percy:

"Percy." The voice rang in my ears. I saw the last tear slide down Annabeth's face and wiped it away.

"Yea, Annabeth, it's me." I said. I watched her struggle to sit up, and tried to help her, but then Zoe interrupted.

"No! You must lie down!" Zoe said, and slapped my hand away. "Don't touch her, Percy."

"You do understand she is my girlfriend, right?" I said.

"Yes, she is your girlfriend. A girl who is a friend." She said. Annabeth giggled, but it sounded rough and scratchy, like she had just been through a bad cold and couldn't speak.

"Still hate men, I see." Annabeth said to Zoe, but it was barely a whisper.

"Annabeth, not you to!" Thalia said, coming up next to her bed and burying her face in the blankets. Her back rose and fell, like she was trying not to cry, but at the same time hiding it.

Okay, right now I'm going to help you catch up. You see it's been about five or six hours that Annabeth has been in this sort of coma thing. And, trust me, those hours were the longest of my life. After Thalia had seen Annabeth for the first time it had been about four hours since then, and no one had made a sound. We had all waited in silence for Annabeth to wake up, and now here we are.

"Thalia, don't cry." Annabeth said, stroking Thalia's hair as she buried her face deeper in the covers. "It's not your fault." Thalia lifted her head, her face looked damp.

"Good thing you have water-proof mascara." Kate said, entering the room, and everyone chuckled.

"Please let me sit up, Zoe." Annabeth said. "Pleaseeee?" Annabeth gave Zoe the puppy dog face. I would have crumbled at that face. I almost actually did, but of course Zoe wouldn't have it.

"No." Zoe declared.

"Not fair." Annabeth crossed her arms and kicked the covers. Which looked very funny, because she was sort of half-sitting with two pillows behind her so it made her look all scrunched up.

"Don't be such a child." Zoe reprimanded.

"Please?" Annabeth made the puppy dog face again.

"No."

"Please?"

"No."

"I want to sit up!"

"No."

"Please? I want to sit up!"

"No."

"Please. Please. Please. Please. Please. Please, Zoe. Please!"

"No!"

"Pleaseeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!"

"Ahhh! Fine!" Zoe surrendered.

"Yay!" Annabeth said, sitting up and obviously feeling victorious. Thalia sat on the bed and hugged Annabeth. Now, Annabeth started to fire questions like a Gatling gun.

"So, why are we all here? Why did we run away from our parents? Why are Zoe and Lee alive? Not to be offensive, because I'm happy you guys never really died, but I just want to know. Oh and why was my head hurting like it was being burned in a pit of fire? And why were random facts flying through my head? Am I asking too many questions?" We all just stared, same old Annabeth. She can't stand not knowing.

Thalia started to explain everything to Annabeth. When she was finished...well I'll let you see how the conversation went.

"We what!" Annabeth screamed.

"We are getting our parents powers transferred to us." Thalia said.

"And?" Annabeth screamed, again.

"If we don't get rid of it soon our parents are going to kill us." Lee answered.

"But, can't we get rid of it!" Annabeth screamed. Zoe slapped her on the head.

"Stop screaming, you're going to get another headache."

"Fine," Annabeth said. "But why can't we just get rid of it?"

"We don't know how to." Kate said "Where's Jess?"

"Still upstairs." Nico said, finally speaking up. He'd been really quiet, he gets like that sometimes.

"Come on Nico, don't get all emo on us. Everyone's fine now." I said to him.

"No, were not. We don't figure this out soon; we're all going to die. _All_ of us." He said.

"When you say all of us?" Luke asked. I'd just realized he was in the room.

"I mean all of us, Speedy. The Olympians and us." Nico answered.

"Don't call me, Speedy." Luke said, annoyed.

"Is that possible?" Zoe asked.

"I don't know, but I can see all our deaths, and it 'aint pretty." Nico said darkly. The look he made when he talked about our deaths. Let's just say it wasn't a very happy look, more like the exact opposite of happy, but ten times more evil.

"Well, whatever, let's talk about this tomorrow." Kate said, standing up. "It's almost time for dinner, and we still haven't started cooking."

"Just order pizza." Lee suggested, sarcastically.

"Yes of course, and how are they supposed to get it here!" Kate said. Everyone started to file out of the room, and Zoe went to help Annabeth off the bed, but I cut in.

"I can help her." I said. Zoe looked at me for a second, and I thought I was going to get a good kick like Lee's, but instead she smiled and walked out of the room. I stared at the doorway, open-mouthed and shocked.

"Zoe hasn't changed much has she." Annabeth said.

"Yeah, she sure hasn't." I looked at her. "Still trying to figure it out?" Annabeth blushed.

"Yes." She answered.

"Well, take a break. Your head works too much." I laughed.

"I can't, there's nothing to take my mind off things." Annabeth said, pulling me on top of her.

"Really? How about this?" I kissed her gently, and then moved my lips down her neck and along her collar bone.

"Yeah, this works." She said, and used her hand to guide my mouth back to her lips.

"You two better get out of there. Now!" Zoe screamed, and we both laughed.

Annabeth:

Percy and I had just finished laughing, when someone yelled.

"Let them be Zoe! You're so boring!" Who is that? She sounded really familiar.

"Who is that?" I asked.

"I think you know." Percy said getting up and offering me his hand. I took it, and got up off the bed. Whoa, head rush. Percy helped steady me.

"Shut up you preppy cheerleader!" Zoe yelled.

"I'm not preppy!" That mystery someone yelled back. No, it couldn't be. Percy smiled at me, seeing the look of confusion on my face.

"No..." I said.

"You'll just have to see for yourself." He said. I smiled, and ran out of the room as best I could. It couldn't be, could it? I ran into a room that looked sorta like a family room, and came face-to-face with a certain Daughter of Aphrodite.


	10. Chapter 9

Just a small note, when I was younger (even though it's only really been a year since I started this so I wasn't really "younger" but you know what I mean.) I didn't know how to explain things all that well and I'm still working on explaining things better but I just wanted to say that in the fanfic when people say stuff like give back whichever parents power, transferring powers and so on they sort of mean to get rid of the curse. Because the "Transfer Curse" the way it works is sort of just a copy curse. And now I'm rambling. Enjoy! ^^

* * *

><p>Percy Jackson- SECRETS- Chap. 9<p>

Annabeth:

"Ah! Silena!" I squealed as I ran to give her a bear hug.

"Anna- beth- you're- squishing- me-" She said, while I kept her in grip tighter than a anaconda. "Please- let- go-" I let her go.

"Ohmygods! You're okay!" I yelled.

"It's good to see you to." She said, taking deep breaths.

"Looks like our Smart Blonde is back." A deep voice said, chuckling. I looked past Silena to see Beckendorf. He got off the couch, and gave me a hug.

"Hey Beckendorf, seems like you're alive to." I said.

"Yeah, glad to still be breathing." He said.

"Hey Fender Bender, don't steal my name for Annabeth." Clarisse said, walking up to us.

"I didn't steal it." Beckendorf said, punching Clarisse on the arm lightly.

"Yes, you did." She said.

"No, I didn't."

"Yes, you did."

"No, I didn't." They started to get into each other's personal space, and I thought a fight was going to start, but then...

"Shut it, the both of you! Do you want a repeat of last time?" Silena said, slapping them both on the head.

"Whatever." Clarisse said, and sat down next to Pollux.

"So, how did this happen, and how are you guys here, and- and- " I tried to stay, stumbling over my words.

"Calm down," Silena said. "I'll explain how I got here, but I can't stand another second of looking at you in those tattered clothes. Come on, let's go upstairs."

"Of course, she just has to make everyone stylish." Zoe said, rolling her eyes. Silena took my hand, and as we were walking away she spoke up.

"I do not make people stylish! I put them in comfortable clothes, but still stylish!" I rolled my eyes. Like that was possible, I thought.

Silena took me through many hallways, and we finally came to the front room probably. It held a giant diamond chandelier, and a grand staircase. There were tables set here and there, and the colors all co-existed in perfect harmony. Damn! This place is huge! Silena pulled me toward the grand staircase (which was huge, just like the foyer).

"Do we have to climb that?" I asked.

"Yes." She answered, and so we started to climb. Fifty steps later (Uh.) the staircase ended and a hallway started. Ok, so this hallway wasn't like the others. This hallway was like ginormous. I was at the top of the staircase, and the hallway was going horizontal, not vertical. So, I didn't look straight, I had to look right or left to see how long it was, and I'm telling you. Whoa.

"Fancy, isn't it?" Silena asked. I couldn't speak, so my head bobbed a little for that's all I could manage, but Silena understood. I tried my hardest to form a sentence, but finally I did it.

"Which room...is mine? Wait, are these even rooms?" I asked, staring at the 30 feet tall, mahogany doors. Silena saw my face, and laughed. I was completely baffled.

"Look a little closer, maybe you'll see it." She said. I did as she said, and I noticed something. In the middle of the door right in front of us was a giant thunderbolt. The one next to it had a trident, and on the other side had Cerberus, the middle head holding a skull.

"So that's. . . ." I tried to say.

"Yes, now look for your room." She commanded. I did. I looked down the hallway a little, and right next to Percy's room was mine. Yay!

"Yay!" I said. I bolted to my room, and flung the door open. Shut up! No way! Ok, imagine a ball room, but except it looked like a room. Yea, that's all I have to say.

"You like?" Silena said, closing the door behind her.

"Are you kidding me? I love!" I said. My bed (mine!) was against the back wall, in the center. On both of sides of it were doors that led out to a balcony, if I saw correctly. I ran to one set of double-doors and opened them up. I walked out, and was once again stunned. I looked to the left and right to see a bunch of other balconies, and they all had perfect views of the ocean, like mine. But there was one difference; all the balconies seemed to have their own special something. Mine had beautiful white roses growing everywhere. They started at the edge, and grew all the way to the wall creeping up like vines.

"Cool, huh." Silena said from behind me. I did nothing but nod. She would understand. "Umm, Annabeth, help." I turned around, and as I took in the scene before me a thin layer of ice was creeping around my heart.

Silena was caught in a headlock, but her chin was raised so the arm that had enclosed her throat didn't get in the way of the knife that was touching her neck. I looked at the person that the knife belonged to, and all hope I had of winning were gone. I recognized her easily, she was one of my older sisters. Like the ones that got immortality. I didn't know her name, but I knew that she was a lot smarter than me.

"Now," My sister said. "Give back Mothers knowledge and I won't hurt your friend here."

"But I don't know how t-" I began, but was rudely cut off.

"Now." My sister commanded. What am I going to do? I was about to start panicking, but then something popped up in my head. It was a. .spell? I don't know, but I raised my hand anyway, and I spoke two words.

"Να φύγει." Somewhere in the back of my head, I knew those two word meant: _Be gone._ When I said this my sister was blown back, but Silena remained unharmed. How? I have no idea. Just when my sister was about to recover, Pollux and Lee burst into the room with Percy, Thalia, and Clarisse behind them. My sister looked at them, and gave them both a glare.

"You guys aren't going to..." She trailed off, and looked them both in the eye. They both looked her and spoke in unison.

"Να θυμάστε πια." I translated that into: _Remember no longer._ And just like that she was gone.

"What? No! She knows where we are. She'll tell the gods!" I said, panicking.

"No, she won't. That little bunch of words Pollux and I just said, yea. She won't remember anything. It's like she never even found us." Lee explained.

"Okay." I said.

"Dinner in five!" Kate screamed from downstairs like nothing had even happened. Everyone filed out to get ready for dinner. I thought Silena was going to help me like she said, but instead she left and in her place was Thalia.

"Come on, let's get you ready." She said.

Olympian Throne Room:

The Olympians had continued to argue. Naturally.

"Well, we have to do something!" Demeter said.

"No shit, Demeter." Apollo said.

"Don't use that language with me." She said.

"Oh shut up!" Hermes interrupted.

"We did do something, we sent our children to look for them." Athena broke in. Just then someone walked into the throne room. It was Athena's daughter. "Did you find them?" Athena asked.

"Uhhh . . ." Her daughter said.

"Uhhh, what?" Hera asked.

"I don't know."

"What do you mean you don't know?" Ares questioned.

"I can't remember." She said.

"You what?" Apollo and Dionysus said in unison.

"I. cannot. remember."

"There a lot smarter than we thought." Athena said.

"I can't believe they did that." Dionysus said, stunned.

"Well, we're screwed." Apollo said, receiving a few slaps to the arm.


	11. Chapter 10

Here's the tenth chapter! Wooh! When you're reading this Nico is going to say something and you're probably going to be like, "What? Nico, no, Nico. That joke did not make sense, Lol. What were you thinking Nico?" And the reason that you will most likely think something a long these lines is because of my weird mind that somehow found it funny at the time . . .maybe? Either that or he was just trying to do anything to make Percy mad . . .I don't remember.

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><p>Percy Jackson- SECRETS- Chap. 10<p>

Thalia:

Annabeth looked very weirded out; well it's only normal she would be.

"Come on Annie, let's get you changed." I grabbed hold of her hand, and led her to her closet. "Well, go on and open it." She shook her head a little, as if she just woke up from a dream, and didn't know where she was.

"Ok," She said, as she grasped the handles, and pushed open the double doors. "WTH?"

"You didn't think it was going to be small did you?" I said, giggling at her expression. "Now do you want something, casual, formal, or comfy?"

"Comfy, but how in Hades will I find it?" She said, looking around the Macy's store - sized closet.

"It would be in the Sweats&PJ's section, duh." I took her hand, and led her through her closet which I like to call Wonderland. The place was so big, I sometimes got lost in my closet. We reached the Sweats&PJ's section, and I stepped aside so Annabeth could get a better look. "What do you like?"

"Um, I guess I'll just wear these." She walked over to a rack, and took a pair gray sweat pants, and a white t-shirt.

"Ok, be quick, Kate hates it when we're late to dinner." I said, as I started walking away.

"Thal." Annabeth called from behind me.

"Yeah?" I asked turning around, but then I saw the tears in her eyes. "Annabeth, what's wrong?" I ran over to her, and grabbed her hands. She looked at me.

"What are we gonna' do? What's going to happen to us?" She said, as the tears rolled down her cheeks. I led her to one of the many couches spread around her Wonderland. "Why didn't you tell me sooner?" She asked once we were seated. I hugged her, and stroked her hair as she cried into my shoulder. After awhile I decided to speak up.

"I'm sorry, Annabeth. I didn't want to tell you sooner, because then you would have been aware of the curse, and you would have to face more hardships sooner. It's kind of like if a half-blood knows there a half-blood then more monsters come after them." I continued. "And I honestly don't know what we're going to do. We just have to wait and see." She sniffled.

"O-okay." She said, and her breath started to hitch.

"Calm down, we're all going to talk about this after dinner." I said, and she nodded. "I'll be waiting outside." I got up, and walked out of Annabeth's Wonderland. She was right, what are we going to do?

Luke:

I was so confused, ever since things settled down I had been watching everyone. We all resembled our parents so much. Not just in looks, but personality as well. Even Zoe, who wasn't even a Daughter of Artemis (not like she had any), resembled Goddess Artemis in the scariest of ways. I can't wait until after dinner, we need to figure these things out...

Annabeth:

I got changed fast, which was surprising since of the shape I was in. My whole head was still in chaos, even though I didn't act like it. I didn't want to upset anyone, especially Percy. I walked out of my Wonderland, and met Thalia outside my room.

"You better?" She asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine." I said, we we're going to figure this out, I hope.

"We better get downstairs."

"Ok."

"If you two don't get your buts downstairs right now, I swear I—" Kate screamed from downstairs.

"And that's our cue." Thalia said, and we both ran downstairs laughing. When we got downstairs I was surprised, it looked nothing like what I was expecting. I thought everyone would be eating at a table, but instead everyone was strewn around. Some were sitting at the table; others were sitting on the couch across the hall. Everyone was eating, and boy did it smell good.

"Come on let's get something to eat." She said.

Percy:

I had just finished eating when Annabeth came downstairs. I waited for her to get her food, and watched as Thalia said something to Annabeth and went to sit by Luke. Annabeth turned, and walked over to sit with me on the couch.

"Hey, beautiful." I said, grabbing her by the waist and pulling her down on the couch.

"Be careful I'm holding a dish, and I'm sure I look so beautiful in sweats, my hair in a ponytail, and holding a tray of food with a mountain of mash potatoes so big, it can beat Mt. Rushmore." She said, taking a sip of her soda.

"You do to me." I kissed her lightly on the cheek.

"Aww!" Silena said, jumping up and down in her seat.

"Silena, just please." Clarisse said. "I have a gods damn headache."

"Then go take some gods damn Tylenol." Beckendorf said.

"Behave." Silena said, then turned to Clarisse. "I'm sorry there just such a cute couple!" I blushed, and so did Annabeth. Dinner went on as usual. The same little conversations, the same little arguments, the occasional throwing of the food because of the arguments. Then we had all finished and had gathered into the den. We usually held meetings here, because there were lots of comfy chairs and couches, and no one would fight. We could have things discussed in peace. It was a really calming room.

On the other hand, the subject we were discussing today, was not calming in any shape or form. None of us knew what we we're going to do...just like damn it all to Hades.

Luke:

This was my first meeting here; I was really curious how it was going to turn out. Were we all going to fight like our parents, or stay calm?

Nico:

Once everyone was seated, I decided to start. I was sitting with Jessica, as usual, and spoke up.

"So, what are we going to do?" I asked. Everyone looked in my direction.

"I don't know. Hide out here for the rest of our lives?" Lee asked. I looked over to him. He was sitting in a leather chair, wearing designer clothes that most people couldn't pull off. Perfect copy of Apollo. Crap.

"We can't do that, are you stupid. We do have lives." Zoe said, she had been playing with a pencil and suddenly threw it at Lee. Perfect clone of Artemis. Crap.

"Hey! That hurt!" Lee said. Together they made the perfect clones of the moon and sun.

"Lee, hush up." Kate said. She was motherly, just like Demeter. Ugh.

"What we have to do is figure out what's going on." Beckendorf said from across the room. He was sitting on a couch, with Silena's head on a pillow on his lap. He stroked her hair absent-mindedly. Oh no, they're a better couple then Hephaestus and Aphrodite could have ever been.

"Thanks Captain Obvious, but what we actually have to do is find out how to stop what's going on." Clarisse said. She's got a temper just like her dad. Great.

"Calm down or I'll turn you drunk." Pollux said and Clarisse just rolled her eyes and scooted closer to him. Which proceeded into Pollux putting his arm around her and Clarisse yawning, and resting her head on his shoulder. Pollux is just like his dad, minus the bitterness. That worries me.

"No, you won't." Clarisse said, yawning.

"Looks like he did." Beckendorf taunted. Clarisse made a growling noise at the back of her throat, but it was half-hearted. Annabeth spoke up.

"Well, isn't there a answer somewhere. Every problem always has a answer."

"How do you figure?" Luke asked.

"Well, a problem can't exist without an answer, because if there wasn't an answer then there wouldn't be a problem to begin with. Get it?" Annabeth said. She is just like her mother. How much smarter can she get?

"Uhh...umm..." Percy said, stumped.

"I'll explain it later." Annabeth said, kissing Percy on the cheek. I don't know why I did it, but I felt like making a joke.

"Oo, _explain_, looks like someone's getting it on tonight." I said. Annabeth blushed, and curled into a ball. Percy gave me the death glare, I gave him a smirk. "Well?" Before I knew it Percy was getting off the couch, and was about to give me a nice black eye, but then he got tied down. He got tied down with...tree roots?

"Will you two ever behave?" Kate asked, and I looked at her. She was mad, like beyond mad. Like erupting volcano mad.

"Sorry ma'am." I said, so scared that my face turned white. Percy was still tied up.

"I will get you Nico. I will get you, soon." Percy said, and like the idiot I was, I gave him another smirk.

"Come at me bro." I said, still smirking. Percy tried to break free of his restraints, but it wasn't going to help. Percy sighed, and relaxed.

"Nico, are you looking for a fight." Jessica chastised me.

"Maybe." I said, and she slapped my arm slightly.

"Back to the matter at hand." Thalia said, finally speaking up.

"Well, were would we find this answer?" Silena asked.

"What place always has an answer?" Thalia asked.

"Library." Luke said, looking guilty. Like he knew something.

"What do you know?" Pollux asked. Clarisse had fallen asleep, and was now passed out on Pollux's shoulder. Luke had been sitting on the floor, his back against the arm of a couch. He looked at his feet.

"Nothing." He said.

"You know something, we can tell." Lee told him.

"It was somewhere Kronos told me to go during the war. It was a really big building, lots of books and maps. Basically, a library. I don't know what it was though, or what it was called." Luke seemed to be looking anywhere, but any of us.

"Luke, you have to tell us were you went." Thalia said.

"No." He said.

"But Luke! It's not like we're enemies anymore, why can't you tell us!" Thalia yelled.

"Too dangerous." He said, looking her in the eye. I wonder what happened...

"But-" Thalia started, but I cut in.

"Thalia, he'll tell us when he's ready." I said, and Thalia looked at me, then walked out of the room, and slammed the see-through door behind her. Just like her dad. Awesome.

"Thanks Nico." Luke said. I don't know why I had helped him, but he reminded me of his dad. The few times I had seen him anyway. Crap!

"You're welcome." I said.

"Everybody let's just clear out, we'll talk about this more tomorrow." Kate said. Every got up and started to file out.

"Will you let me go, Kate?" Percy said, and the roots disappeared. He got up, and took Annabeth by the hand. "Let's go." Percy was just like his dad. Oh the joy.

"Come on Silena. I'm not carrying you again, so don't act like your sleeping." Beckendorf said. Silena got up into a sitting position so Beckendorf could get up. He offered his hand.

"But I am sleeping." Silena said, looking at him.

"Oh, really?" In the blink of an eye, Beckendorf had Silena over his shoulder and was carrying her off.

"Put me down!" Silena giggled.

"Not happening, it's too dangerous. The gods know were cursed. You're sleeping with me tonight." Beckendorf said, leaving the room. I pondered this, Beckendorf was right it wasn't safe. I mean, someone besides us got in here. Only cursed ones could see this place. Wait, does that mean Annabeth's sister was a cursed one? But she was immortal, that couldn't be. I pushed the thought out of my head, that's for tomorrow.

"Guess I'm going to have to carry you." Pollux said to a sleeping Clarisse. He picked her up bridal-style and carried her out of the room.

"I'm guessing my room is the one with the big Caduceus on it?" Luke said, standing up.

"Yeah." I answered.

"Thanks." And he walked out of the room. Now it was just me and Jessica.

"You're really thinking about this aren't you?" She asked. I couldn't hide anything from her. Sigh.

"Yeah, I am." I confessed.

"You're just like your dad, Nico." Jessica said. Oh are you kidding me?

"That's just perfect, but right now I'm beat, let's get some rest." I got off the couch, and walked towards the door a little. I turned a little, expecting Jessica to follow, but she was still on the couch with arms out stretched. All she said was two words.

"Piggy back." I was going to say no, but she said it in that little baby voice and pouted. Aw, come on.

"You are such a cheater." I said, turning around and walking back to her. She got off the couch, and spun me around then jumped on my back.

"Be quiet Nico, and don't complain. I know you're strong enough to carry a hundred-twenty pound girl." She said.

"Finally telling me your weight, huh." I said. We'd reached Jessica's room which was conveniently next to mine. I put her down.

"Why do you say that? Am I fat? I knew it, I am fat." She said, and began to pull at her hair.

"No, you're not! Don't ever say that! You're beautiful." I said, and pulled her close. "Don't forget that." I kissed her goodnight and waited until she locked her door. Tomorrow was going to be interesting.

Jessica:

I was in my bathroom getting changed to go to bed. There was so much going on, my mind was scrambling. As I put my t-shirt on I saw my tattoo flash in the mirror. Well not a tattoo, but a sign that I was cursed. We all had one, and they were all annoying. The tattoo showed who we were cursed with. Like Percy had a trident on his back, well I have a flower on my wrist. It wasn't like Kate's though. Hers was really pretty. Mine was silver, with a black vine, and a red center. I was a Daughter of Demeter, but I was cursed to hold my sisters burden. Persephone.

I looked above my tattoo to see the cut marks on my arms. Yes, I've cut myself. I wish I hadn't, but I did. There was no going back. At least one good thing came out of this. Nico. I loved him, I loved him so much, and I'm so happy he feels the same way. I had finished brushing my teeth, and walked out of the bathroom. The lights were off. Weird, I don't remember turning them off. I took one step towards my bed, and then I heard it. The slight swoosh of a cape gliding across the floor.

"Who's there?" I asked, with all the courage I could muster. Don't let it be him, please don't let it be him.

"Hey, Dark Petals." It was him.

"Get out of here. You're not supposed to be here." I said, frozen.

"I really think I am." Then I felt something touch my shoulder. A hand. A ice cold, feather light hand, but it still had an iron grip. I was still holding the towel from the shower I had took, it was the only thing I had.

"Get. away. from. me." I said. He cackled, quietly.

"No."

Then I turned around and threw the towel in his face, and screamed.

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><p><strong>Also, <strong>I wanted to tell you guys a little bit about Jessica. She is a Daughter of Demeter, cursed with Persephone's powers. She has cut and is very insecure because she was bullied in school. As for the guy in room . . . well . . . you'll see *pretend troll face is here please*


	12. Chapter 11

Hey! I'm back! And this time for awhile! First my computer broke and then I had mid-terms, so it was just all very annoying, especially not being able to get on the computer that much. Here is Chapter 11! I will be uploading Chapter 12 later and I am currently working on Chapter 24! Enjoy and thank you for reading! :)

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><p>Percy Jackson- SECRETS- Chap. 11<p>

Kate:

I woke up to the sound of screaming. 'WTH' I thought to myself. What is going on? The screaming continued, but then went lower like it was being muffled. I heard a vase shatter, and then the glass being crunched by shoes. Good Gods, what were they doing? I guess Nico was right, someone IS getting it on. Yuck.

I had only gotten about 10 minutes of sleep, but I wasn't going to go back to bed and I certainly wasn't going to listen to whoever THAT was so I jumped out of bed and picked up my bathrobe. I was shoving my arm through one of the sleeves as the piercing scream unbroken the silent night once again. Isn't that a little much? I mean I don't think you want to announce what you're doing to everyone. I ignored the screams and went out into the hallway. I was making my way towards the staircase when I heard yet another scream and then a loud thump.

My head wiped around like I'd just been slapped. That sound came from Jessica's room. No way. Jessica wouldn't be. . .would she. . .and Nico. I felt like throwing up, but then I heard another scream, and some muffled speech that sounded like 'Help me.' OMG'S! She's in danger!

I ran to Jess's door and flung it open. My heart froze in place as I took in the scene before me. There was shattered glass everywhere, and Jessica had a cut down her arm. She looked at me, and mouthed to words. "Get Nico." What could Nico do that I couldn't? Then I looked at the person who had attacked Jessica. His skin was pale, and he was wearing a cloak that reached the ground. I couldn't exactly place the color, but I dismissed that. His hair and eyes were pitch black and I thought 'He didn't look like someone I couldn't handle' but then I saw his smile. It was a crooked smile, a twisted one, and when I looked straight at his lips it was almost like I could see straight through his skin to his teeth. Wait a second. . . .oh.

"Looks like I walked in on something. I'm just going to. . . .go." I said, awkwardly, like I had no idea what was going on. I walked back into the hallway and was about to close the door, ready to get help, when a hand seemed to pop out of nowhere and shoved me back into the room. He shoved me hard, and on my way in I tripped and ended up next to Jess. She gave me a scared look. No. A horrified look, like she didn't like what was going to happen. I got up and hugged her close. "Calm down Jess, it's going to be okay."

"Aren't you so sweet." He said, and I looked up to see that he was right in front of us.

"Who are you?" I asked, a little acid leaked into my voice. "And why are you here?"

"Well, I can't tell you who I am, but I can tell you why I'm here. To kill her." He pointed at Jess who was shaking in my arms.

"Over my dead body." I said, my voice as hard as steel.

"Well that," He looked me in the eye and flashed me that grin of his. "I can deal with." His hand shot out and grabbed me by the arm pulling me up. I thought he wouldn't be very strong from the look of his skin, but I was wrong. He held my arm a little tighter then suddenly flung me across the room. If the mirror hadn't already been broken I would have gotten the entire right side of my face cut.

"Katie!" Jessica screamed. I got up and my hand grabbed the nearest thing in site. I threw it at his head. He turned around, and a cold feeling crept around me. I tried to take a step back, but I was paralyzed; I couldn't move my body. My eyes widened, and I tried to scream as he was walking towards me, but my lips were paralyzed as well. I waited as he got closer, and closer to me. Who does he remind me of? I mean, it's definitely someone I'm close to, but I just can't place him.

"I'm going to have fun making you scream." He said, smiling wickedly. He had finally reached me, and he pulled his arm backwards. I closed my eyes and braced myself for the slap that was going to come, but it didn't. I opened my eyes to see a black vine restraining his hand from whipping forward and hitting me.

"Don't touch her!" Jessica screamed, and she flung her hand down on to the floor making the vine pull him down. His body landed on the floor with a huge thump. He shook his head, and started to get up, but before my eyes more vines wrapped around him. There were black ones, green ones, bone white ones, and it didn't look like the intruder could take much more of it.

"Let me go!" He tried to scream, but he was being strangled. The vines started to cut his skin, and it didn't seem like they were going to break. Before the vines reached his bones, he disappeared in a cloud of black smoke. All that was left were a bunch of vines waiting for something else to strangle.

"Are you okay?" Jess asked, getting up and running over to me. I hadn't realized it, but I could finally move my body again.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine." I said. "But what about you?" I just remembered about the cut on Jess's arm.

"Oh, that's nothing. I'm fine, but Katie?" Jessica started.

"Yes?" I asked.

"Don't tell anyone, especially Nico."

"But you told me to get him like 5 minutes ago!" I yelled.

"I know, just please." Jessica begged. Of course being me, I didn't have the will power to say no. I mean, she's my sister, come on.

"Ok, ok." I said. Just then, someone knocked on the door. Jess and I looked at each other. I walked over to the door, and opened it just a bit. "Who's there?" I asked.

"Um, Luke." Luke answered.

"Oh. Hey. What's up?" I said.

"I had just gotten out of the shower, and I heard a bunch of screaming coming from this room." He explained. Crap, what was I gonna say?

"Oh. Sorry. Jessica and I were just watching a horror movie." Yes! Score one for me!

"Oops, my bad. Well, good night." He said.

"Goodnight." I said and closed the door. I turned to face Jessica.

"Thanks." She said.

"No problem, but you have to explain to me who that guy was." I said.

"Ugh."

"But first let's get that arm bandaged." I said, heading for the bathroom.

Luke:

That was weird, it sounded like they were in trouble. Oh, whatever; I'm over reacting. I started to head back to my room, but got bitch slapped by a door instead.

"Ow." I said, rubbing my nose.

"Ohmygods! I'm sorry!" She yelled. I knew that voice anywhere. I looked up to see Thalia staring at me with concern. "Are you ok?" She asked, offering her hand.

"Yeah, I'm fine." I took her hand and stood up. "What are you doing?"

"I had a nightmare." She said. I looked at Thalia a little more intently and realized she was shaking.

"Hey, did it scare you that bad?" I asked. She didn't answer, and looked averted her eyes so she was looking anywhere besides that. "Come on Thalia," I squeezed her chin between my thumb and forefinger and forced her to look at me. "You can tell me." She still didn't look me in my eye. This wasn't the Thalia I knew. "What happened in the dream?"

The second those words left my mouth, Thalia looked straight into my eyes, and out of nowhere she kissed me. We stood there for a few minutes, hugging each other and kissing gently, until Thalia broke away and rested her head on my chest.

"I don't want to lose anyone again." She whispered. It was pretty obvious what her dream was about now, but I didn't bring it up again.

"Calm down Thals, it'll be okay." I said, running my hand down the back of her hair. She looked up at me.

"You think so?" She asked.

"Yes, now you should get some sleep." I said pulling away. She grabbed my hand.

"Will you stay with me tonight?" She asked. I didn't know what to say so I nodded. She led me into her room, and I only had one word. Wow. If I thought my room was big, Thalia's room was huge! At the back of the room was a bed, with a huge canopy flowing over it. Thalia let go of my hand, and crawled into bed. Being the idiot I was I stood there. She looked at me, and patted the spot next to her. "Aren't you going to sleep with me?"

"Uh…" Ok, now I know what you're thinking, I'm being a complete dumbass, but I have my reasons. I didn't have much physical contact with girls throughout my life; I mean I was working for the Titan Lord for gods sakes!

"Luke, you're nineteen, don't tell me you can't sleep with a girl. 'Cause that's all we're doing. _Sleeping."_ She said, and I knew my face was turning scarlet red.

"I know that." I said, jumping into bed and wrapping my arms around her; we both leaned back and landed on the pillows. She snuggled closer to me, and started to doze off. The last words I heard from her were 'Goodnight Luke, I love you.' and then she fell asleep. I closed my eyes.

"I love you to Thalia." I said, before I fell asleep.

Kate:

After bandaging Jess's arm up, I crept back to my room and went to bed. But, as usual, I was wide awake and thinking about whom that guy reminded me off. It wasn't the pale skin, or the see through skin. No, the person who I knew didn't have those. It was the eyes. The midnight black eyes. I stayed up all night tossing, and turning until my eyes finally started getting heavy around 3 o'clock. Only right before I fell asleep is when I realized who it was. The man reminded me of Nico. I fell asleep.


	13. Chapter 12

Was just wondering, anybody like Thaluke/Thuke? I know I do! ^^

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><p>Percy Jackson- SECRETS- Chap. 12<p>

Thalia:

I cracked my eyelids open and my eyes adjusted to the sunlight that filtered through the windows. There wasn't much sunlight since the curtains were blocking the golden rays, but it was enough to make me groan and turn over in bed. Right after I was able to block my eyes from the light, someone draped there arm over my waist and pulled me close to them. My eyes shot open.

Someone was in my bed, someone had me in a tight grip, someone was right behind me, and I couldn't see who they were. My heart beat rose, and my limbs locked. My mind raced back to last night, but all I could remember was that dream. The thought of it made me shudder, but as I was sifting through memories something stood out. I vaguely remembered me running out of my room and bumping into someone. The person in my bed spoke up.

"Thalia." It half-murmured, half-groaned. That voice sound oddly like….Luke! Memories hit my head hard, and my body relaxed. Luke was in my bed, now I remember, I had asked him to sleep with me. Just sleep. Nothing else.

"Thalia." Luke said again, this time groaning just a little more. Oh, boys and their sick minds. But, honestly, I blushed just a little. Luke was dreaming about me, dreaming what sound to be somewhat sexy things. Did Luke really think of me as sexy? I turned around to face him, and watched as he slowly slid back into the world of reality, and away from the land of dreams.

"Hey." I whispered, smiling. He looked at me, and smiled groggily.

"Hi." He said, pulling his arms out from under me, and lifting his hand to hold his head.

"Good morning." I said, looking at him from where my head rested on the pillow.

"Good morning." He said, smiling, and looked down at me. "So, what are we going to do today?" He asked. That was a good question.

"I don't know, maybe we could go to that place Kronos sent you." I suggested, and his smile disappeared.

"No, too dangerous." He said, sitting up.

"What's so dangerous?" I said, pouting.

"I'm not going to tell you." He said, starting to get up, but I was too annoyed. So in the blink of an eye, I had him back on the bed, lying down, with me straddling him. Yea, I'm fast.

"Thalia, get off." He growled.

"Not until you tell me where he sent you." I smirked.

"Sorry, but no." His hands grabbed me by the waist and tried to push me off, but I grabbed his forearms and pinned him down. "D-damn it Th-thalia, whatever y-you do I'm n-not going to t-tell you." He said, well tried to say anyway. He was stuttering.

"Someone's a little nervous Luke." I said. Taking my hands off his forearms, and grabbing his hands.

"I'm not nervous." He said, getting wide eyed. I laid down on top of him, and moved his hands to the back of my neck.

"Nervous yet?" I asked. He was going to tell me where that library was.

"No." His voice was getting shaky.

"Come on, Luke. Just tell me what library it was?" I asked.

"I already told everyone last night, I don't know what it's called." He said.

"Well at least tell me where it was." I said, taking his hands from behind my neck, and leading them lower down my back. His eyes got wider than an owls'.

"Thalia. . .what are you doing?" He asked, his voice cracking.

"You're going to tell me where the library is, one way or the other." I don't know when, but something finally clicked in Luke's head, and then he desperately trying to get free. But the way I was straddling him, while lying on top of him, and holding his hands behind my back, it was sort of impossible.

"Thalia, come on, don't do this to me." He groaned. I should do this more often, it's fun to tourture.

"Nope, I think I'm going to continue, I mean you must like this after you were dreaming about me." I don't know why I said it, but I did. I can be really self-confident sometimes, and I had to know what his dream was about. I just had to. He stopped struggling.

"You heard that?" He asked, awkwardly.

"Yes." I whispered. I thought for a while. "And now I have black mail."

"What?" He asked, clearly surprised.

"I have black mail," I said again. "If you don't tell me where the library is, then I will tell everyone you were having a very, very inappropriate dream about me."

"It wasn't that inappropriate." He said trying to defend himself.

"Who are they gonna believe?" I asked. He thought about this. In the end he just gave up.

"Fine, the library was in Egypt, alright?" He said.

"Egypt?" I asked, confused.

"Yes, Egypt. Now can you please get off me?" He whined. Hm, Egypt. That's weird. Have to ask Annabeth. Anyway back to the present.

"Fine." I said, releasing his hands. But before I got off him, I brought my lips closer to his until they were a centimeter apart, and then I sat up still straddling him. He looked pissed off.

"You damn tease." He growled and sat up. Well the best you could sit up with someone straddling you.

"Well, I do love to annoy people." I said, running my hand down his chest. He shuddered, right before crushing his lips to mine. Well, this was a good morning.

Annabeth:

I woke up, and looked around my room. I sighed out loud. I guess I was going to have to get used to having a room to myself. I rolled over and looked at my clock, it read 7:30. Okay, so I had a half an hour to just hang around and do nothing. Might as well take a look around this mansion, castle thingy. I hopped out of bed, and grabbed my robe that I had found in my "wonderland". It was a nice robe, all white and made of silk, with an owl sitting on a branch stitched onto the fabric right over my heart.

The robe looked like something my mom would wear in the morning as well. Ugh. Why did this have to happen to us? Couldn't my life just be a little easier? I walked down the stairs and into the hall. Which way to go? I asked myself, turning my head from side to side. I chose right and started walking down the corridor. The place was beautiful I had to say. There were so many things in here. I passed the training room (which may I say was huge), then the stair case that led to the pool, and I came to the library.

"Wow." I said, as I cracked open the door to the library. It. Was. Amazing. There was row after row of books just waiting to be read. I walked around for a little, but then started to run down aisle after aisle, laughing like a little kid as I did so. My feet stopped when I noticed a desk that was in the middle of the giant study. It had a bunch of papers on it, and was dimly lit by a lamp. I walked towards the desk, and took a peek at the papers. They looked like. . .battle strategies? No. They looked like drawings, like visions. No. Like dreams! That was it! Dreams!

"I wonder…" I said, drifting off into my thoughts. The artwork looked familiar. It wasn't someone with much talent, but it looked as if they only would draw for a purpose. Not for fun. The name was on the tip of my tongue, but it slipped away when a loud banging came from the entrance of the library/study. Crap! I don't know if I should be looking at this stuff! I only got here yesterday!

I started to panic, but then I thought for a second. 'How am I going to get out of here?' I thought, but once I thought those words something weird happened. The whole room sort of became really defined. I could see every single little detail. All my senses were on high. It was like an adrenaline rush, but my thoughts weren't clouded with fear, or anger, or sadness. I could actually think, not just do.

'Is this how my mom thinks?' I asked myself. By now I had figured there was more than just me in here. It sounded like four feet, two people. They were talking, and they were coming straight down the aisle I was in! I turned my head an inch, and saw Zoe and Lee. They both had their heads down, so they hadn't seen me yet. 'How am I going to get out of this?' I thought again. Then there was another loud banging, which was obviously the door being flung open. I heard Pollux yell.

"Guys, wait! I think I might have figured something out!" Zoe and Lee turned their heads, towards the sound of Pollux's voice, and I bolted. I ran down another aisle, and stopped short at the end of the row. I checked if anyone was there, and ran out the door. The door closed behind me with a quiet click of the lock. I headed back down the corridor, when I heard someone yelling. It was coming from the staircase that led to the pool. They were screaming 'Help!' at the top of their lungs, but their voice wasn't making it that far. I dashed down the staircase, and my feet landed with a silent thud as I jumped over the last two steps and onto the cement.

Now before you get confused about our "pool" I'm going to explain it to you. You see our "pool" is actually in a giant cavern, and I mean giant. And the actual "pool" is connected to the ocean, like no nets or anything, just connected. So if you wanted to go swimming, it'd be like swimming in the ocean, but there aren't really any waves, and you don't have to deal with anyone trying to kill us. Because the shield on the mansion/castle thing went under the water as well. So were good.

Anyway, I ran out to the edge of the pool, and searched the surface of the water to see if anyone was in trouble. Nope, no one. Then I froze, I heard footsteps behind me. They were coming closer, making little sloshing sounds as its feet moved through the excess water puddles outside the pool. It jumped at me, which isn't something I expected, and both it and I went for a little swim. Whoever it was had me by the waist, and was pulling me farther under. My air supply was running out, but it kept pulling me farther under. Just when I thought I was going to pass out, they spoke up.

"You do know you wouldn't be suffocating if you just opened your mouth, right?" I stopped struggling, took a deep breath of sea water, and kicked my kidnapped as hard as you could under water. Seaweed Brain.


	14. Chapter 13

Percy Jackson- SECRETS- Chap. 13

Annabeth:

"Seaweed Brain!" I said, trying to kick him, but he still had his arm around my waist and was pulling me deeper. "Would you let go of me? I know how to swim!"

"No." He said, and continued to pull me lower.

"If my head explodes from the water pressure, there are going to be some sharks around here for awhile." I said.

"It won't explode, don't you trust me?" He asked. I gave him a look and he smirked, I tried to kick him again. "That doesn't hurt."

"Percy! Where are we going? It's morning, not afternoon. I didn't even have breakfast yet. And I heard someone screaming help."

"That was me." I kicked him for setting me up like that.

"And why did you do that?"

"To get you down here." Kick

"And how did you know I was by the pool?"

"I followed you." Kick.

"And where are you _taking me_?"

"Not telling." Kick.

"I told you already, that doesn't hurt."

"Just tell me where we're going!" I yelled.

"Come on, Annabeth. Just a little farther." He said, and kept pulling me. I groaned inwardly and just shut my mouth, letting myself be pulled and breathing and exhaling sea water. After about a few minutes, two minutes and forty-nine seconds to be exact, he pulled me into a underwater cave. He same all the way to the back of it, and then pulled me to a little opening at the surface. I swam up and lifted myself up onto dry rock; I perfectly dry as well thank gods. Percy jumped up and offered me his hand. I took it and he guided me farther into the cave. We came to a little room at the back of the cave.

"Oh wow." I said, looking at the crystals. They were all a beautiful sea green, some blue, and they covered the walls from top to bottom. "What are they?"

"Tide Crystals. They're created after years and years of the tide coming up against underground walls. They only show up in underwater caves. You should see them when they're underwater." He explained. They were beautiful, but how were we going to see them underwater? A sloshing sound came from the sound of the water. I whipped my head around and saw Percy smiling.

"Percy. . ." I started. "What did you mean about the tide coming up?" The sound was getting louder, and closer.

"You know tides come up quite fast." He smirked, and I jumped into his arms right before a wave of water rammed into us. "Come on, Wise Girl, breath." I opened my mouth and eyes, then playfully punched him. After the water settled all the way, I looked at the crystals. They all had millions of tiny facets, and looked like diamonds. But instead of being white, they were all different hues of blue and green.

Percy walked over and gently took a piece of the crystal from the wall. It was a little chunk, and right before my eyes, Percy used the currents to speed up time and form it into a heart. He handed it to me. I held it softly in my fingers, even underwater it felt delicate. He looked at me.

"Whenever you need me, just wish on the heart, and I'll be there." I threw my arms around him, and held him tight.

"Thank you." I whispered in his ear.

"No proble—" His voice was cut off, and he was ripped out of my arms. Someone dragged him through the cave, and back towards open water.

"Percy!" I screamed, and swam after them. Since the cave was fully underwater I had a hard time catching up to them. Once I made it to the entrance, I saw that Percy was being dragged away by someone. Someone with. . .a fin! The man swimming was really built, black hair, and two tails. Wait. . . .two? Triton! My sense went on high again, and everything once again, became defined.

I started to swim after them, but when I tried to take another gulp of sea water, I had a hard timing breathing. Oh no, Percy's power was wearing off and soon I wouldn't be able to breathe. Unwillingly, I swam for the surface, instead of swimming after Percy. By the time I reached the pool, I was almost choking, and I felt like passing out. But instead of doing so, I pulled myself out of the water and ran towards the family room, completely soaked. As I did I pulled the heart – which I stuffed into my pajama pocket when I swam after Percy – out and looked at it. It glowed faintly, now out of the water, but was still beautiful. Percy was in so much trouble.

I ran into the family room, and rammed straight into Pollux.

"Hey Annabeth, why are you all wet?" He asked, cocking his head to one side. I started bawling my eyes out, and he held his hands up. "Sorry! Sorry!"

"No," I sobbed. "It's not you it's Percy! Triton somehow got through the barrier, and he took him out into the ocean. Probably to their Father's Palace." Pollux's eyes had grown wide, and he picked me up of the floor and helped me the rest of the way to the family room. Everyone turned their heads towards us; I could see Silena's hand cover her mouth. They knew something was wrong.

Kate ran to get a towel, and Pollux led me to a seat. I told everyone what happened. Surprisingly, Luke was the first to react.

"Gods Damn!" He said, and punched something made of granite. I couldn't tell through all the tears. Normally it wouldn't have broken, but with the new strength, he cracked it and the lines went in a few different directions. He removed his fist and silently cursed under his breath.

"You get used to it." Beckendorf said to him. Everyone went into action real quick.

"Well, it's obvious what we have do." Zoe stated.

"Save Percy, no duh." Clarisse said.

"But how?" Lee cut in. "None of us have the ability to breath underwater, and I'm sure Poseidon won't be very welcoming to any of us."

"Oh ha ha, you're so hilarious." Thalia said, waving her hands in the air.

"Wait, Percy gave me something. . ." Nico said, and then dashed upstairs.

"Another thing we have to think about is who will go?" Jessica asked.

"I'll go." Luke said, raising his hand. I wiped a few tears to make sure I was seeing it correctly.

"You? You? The one who wanted to kill him?" Clarisse spat. Luke grimaced, while clenching and unclenching his fists.

"I know what I did was wrong, it crossed all lines, on every level. But that's exactly why I have to go. I have to make it up to Percy." He explained, and looked at me. "I'll get him back." My smile grew wide just like it did during the days we were on the run. He saw my smile and gave me his special smirk. The smirk that always made me happier when we were little. Just by seeing this smirk, I knew Percy was going to be okay. "Annabeth goes to."

Excuse'em wa?

"What?" I said, choking on tears.

"I want you to come with me."

"Dude, my mother is Athena! I'm not wanted in the water!" I threw up my arms, and spazzed out a little. Thalia cut in.

"I think you should go to." I was about ready to pass out.

"You two are horrible." I sighed, laying down on the couch.

"Don't lay down, you'll get the couch wet!" Kate said, running in and wrapping the towel around me.

"Found it!" Nico said, barging in, almost tripping.

"Found what?" Jessica said.

"Ok, so, Percy and Lee made these with some medicine magic after we were cursed and he gave some to me. They're concentrated pills of oxygen, and sea magic. Don't ask how, but they work. They last for about two hours, so you'll have to be quick." He explained. Zoe's mouth was hanging.

"Oh, yeah, I remember that." Lee said.

"Are you serious?" Clarisse asked.

"Extremely."

"Well, we got a team, and we have the solution. Go!" Thalia said. My head snapped into action.

"Are you kidding me? Go on a mission without weapons?" I screamed, standing up.

"You have your dagger," She said, and took my dagger off a table that I had left it on and threw it at me. My reflexes let me catch it almost instantly. "And Luke has Backbiter." She nodded at him, and I saw it was strapped across his back. "And you both have those. . .pills, whatever they are."

"But Thal—" I got cut off.

"No buts, just go. Before Percy gets killed, tortured, or blown to ashes." She said through gritted teeth. I took a pill from Nico, so did Luke.

"Well fine Miss. Bossy pants."


	15. Chapter 14

Asdfghjkl. I think this school year may be the hardest one _ever. _But here is chapter fourteen. I'm still working on 24 and I don't think I'll finish it and it makes me so sad. Well, hope you enjoy! And thanks for reading! ^^

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><p>Percy Jackson- SECRETS- Chap. 14<p>

Percy:

So, let me explain what was happening at the moment. First of all, I had no idea how my stupid older brother got through the barrier. Second of all, I don't know where he was taking me, probably to my father's palace. And third of all, I'm probably going to die. I didn't try and fight, I couldn't, I wasn't supposed to or….wait…you probably don't know. Sigh. Well, you'll learn later on.

Triton suddenly shot down, and through an archway. Wait, an archway? Omigods. We're here already? Oh well, that's just fine. He threw me in a cage and locked it. He turned to leave, but I spoke up.

"You know, if I die, he dies along with me." But Triton just simply swished away. Oh well, that's nice. Let your father die. I sat in the cage for what I thought was probably a half an hour when a dolphin swam by. It stopped and turned towards me, the dolphin was a female (don't ask I just know) and her eyes were filled with concern. Weird, I would think every sea creature would come to hate me. She spoke in my mind. _He's coming._

I could hear the sea floor begin to shake. I heard someone at the end of the hall.

Annabeth:

"Luke, we have to get in there now." I said. We had been sitting outside this stupid palace for fifteen minutes, and I knew Percy was somewhere in the chambers.

"I know we have to, ok? But we have to get in there without being seen." He replied. Ooo, that boy. I love him, but I hate him. I guess that is what you call a best friend. Without warning Luke suddenly jumped up. "Now." And he ran down the hill, stirring up little clouds of sand, as he made his way toward the underwater kingdom.

I followed him as quickly as I could, my hair flowing in the water like seaweed in a coral reef. I slammed my body against a coral pilaster. Thankfully I was underwater, so my impact didn't make a big noise. Luke was crouched down next to me. I unsheathed my dagger and tapped him on the shoulder with it. He turned his neck in my direction, and I gave him my are-you-crazy? look. He gave a silent chuckle that shook his frame.

"You don't trust me? You're forgetting something Annie. I stole the bolt." He whispered, and started to move around the pillar. I cautiously followed. I wasn't dealing with the same Luke as before, I was dealing with Luke's thievery side. It held no bonds. We tip-toed through passage ways and corridors, always missing guards by a second. By the time we got to the prison chambers I was about rip someone's head off.

"Luke, where is he?" I hissed, and he pointed to a cell at the very end of the chamber. I could see a little glow emitting from it. We ran down the hallway and I grasped the bars, someone looked up and I smiled. His green eyes were just as bright as ever.

"You're helping me," Percy said; he wasn't talking to me. "Why would you ever want to help me?" Luke and Percy stared each other down for a few minutes, and I was getting nervous.

"Hey guys, want to move the staring contest to somewhere safer? Like the castle? Yea, let's go." I said, running a little down the hall, then I turned my head and walked back knowing they weren't listening. I stepped in front of Luke and put my hands on his chest, then leaned against him. "Why won't you budge?" I whined. Luke step towards Percy, and I fell flat on my face. I looked over to see them shake hands.

"We're good?" He said.

"Yea, we're good." Percy said, then smiled and slightly tapped him on the shoulder. Luke looked over to me, and gave me a fake frown.

"Oh, I'm sorry Annabeth, were you there?" He asked, and then tried not to laugh. I got up and right away Luke was hiding behind Percy.

"Why I ought to—" My insult was interrupted by a loud crash down the hall. A few dozen guards came bursting in. "Honestly? You really need like twenty something guards for three people!" Percy and Luke exchanged glances. "Yea, they do need them, let's go."

Our feet pounded on the marble floors and soon we touched sand, but the guards were still right on our heels.

"How fast can these fish swim? Honestly?" Luke yelled, quite annoyed.

"Hey! Don't let them hear you say that! They'll turn you into to canned tuna." Percy shot back.

"Guys, I don't want to be a bother, but we need a plan." I interrupted. I looked around desperately, but all I could see was the vast ocean floor. We slowed down; the guards were a bit behind us now. "Ok, think quickly, what can we do?"

"Maybe I could, no. Or possibly, no. What if I, no." Percy babbled. Omigods.

"Don't tell me, it's unsafe to use any of the power that we're getting around our parents?" I asked, as if life couldn't get any worse.

". . .Yes." He answered, putting his head down.

"Well, then you guys better think of something fast, and right now." Luke said; Percy and I looked in the direction he was. O.M.G'S! Both my mom and Percy's dad were heading towards us.

"You two have to go, now." Percy said, pushing us away.

"No, we're not just gonna leave you here." Luke said.

"Well, I don't think your breathing oxygen right now. I know what Nico gave you guys." We both looked down. "Go." I looked up, and looked him in the eyes.

"I'm not going anywhere, that's my mom you know." I said, digging my feet in the sand. They were getting closer. We needed a miracle.

"Luke, can you run fast?" Percy said.

"Well, I don't know. Maybe, what do you think?" Luke said in a completely sarcastic, toneless voice. Percy exchanged a sarcastic look back.

"Well. . .I, maybe, I just maybe we could—"

"Annabeth." My mother's voice rang eerily through the water. My head turned in her direction and I stared into her eyes. They weren't mad, only worried. I didn't know what to say.

"Annabeth, come with me. The curse was only recently put on you, we can try and get you back to normal." She said. I exhaled sharply; I couldn't believe she was really suggesting this.

"And if I don't get back to normal?" I asked. Her eyes turned sad, and her head dropped. I'm getting fed up with this. I started to walk away.

"Where do you think you're going?" My mother called from behind me.

"Leaving." I called back.

"I knew this sea boy was never good for you!" She yelled to me. I turned on my heels. She did not just go there. I walked back to stand next to Percy, my mother was looking at me curiously.

"Don't you ever say that again!" I screamed. "He is the best thing that ever happened to me, and I love him!" I was so enraged that I took Percy's face and kissed him fiercely. I heard my mom gasp, Luke choke underwater, and felt Percy tense up. I pulled away; his eyes contained nothing but fear.

"Well. . ." Luke said awkwardly.

"You know," Percy began. "Since I've been keeping secrets for so long, I think it's ok I kept one more, right?" He said pulling away from me.

"What?" I asked, completely confused.

"Well, usually we are stuck in a life-threatening situation—like now—and somehow a complete miracle happens and we get out of it nearly alive. Although it doesn't look like that is going to happen this time." Percy said. "But since you two were basically just cursed," He gestured to us. "Then there is something you don't know."

"What the hell could we not know?" Luke said, rubbing his temples.

"That almost every god and goddess has a cursed one or 'heir'." Percy continued, smiling widely. The whole time our parents where just quietly standing there, probably to see how much we knew.

"Percy, I'm still not understanding."

"Ok, well let me just say for a start, Thalia is not the 'heir' of Zeus." He confirmed and then added. "Not fully anyway."

"Then-then who is!" I said, shocked.

"His name is Jason, we have Nico, and my name is Percy; I'm not sure if I'm counting wrong, but to me, that makes three." He concluded. Everyone was in shock, anger was radiating from both our parents, and I started choking on water. . .I couldn't breathe.

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><p>Yes there will be Jason in this story and that's about it. I couldn't help but include him since he is just standing there in the Roman Camp being a Son of Jupiter and everything.<p> 


	16. Chapter 15

Yay! These next chapters have got to be some of my favorites! ^^ Enjoy and thanks for reading!

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><p>Percy Jackson – SECRETS – Chap 15.<p>

Luke:

Annabeth was starting to cough. Not like a, you choke a glass of water cough. Like you desperate hacking, like you were trying to breathe. It was easy to see what was happening, that pill wore off, and that meant I didn't have much time left either.

"Annabeth? Oh no, come on Annabeth, I'm right here. Breathe." Percy said, holding Annabeth close, but she didn't seem to acknowledge anything. She must have thought she drowning.

"I told you so." Athena said, looking at Annabeth, and then rolling her eyes.

"You know you're really terrible." I spat at the Goddess of Wisdom. Her eyes shot towards me, and I knew I had pushed it too far. Something emitted from her mouth, a gray wisp of dust shinning in the water. I stared at it as it came towards me and I tried to jump back as it wrapped itself around my neck. It shifted and hardened until a thick silver rope was pulled tightly around my neck. I started to cough and sputter even worse than Annabeth, probably because both the rope and the disappearing effects of the pill were both working together to stop my oxygen.

"Well, what are you going to do now?" Athena said, looking at Percy. His father stayed silent, waiting for something.

"Wait." He said, and his voice wasn't the same. It was scratchy, hard, and very low. Athena chuckled.

"For who, may I ask?"

I was starting to see colors, my vision going blurry, but then something happened. I heard a buzzing in my ears, and I thought I was done for good, but the buzz didn't grow distant as if I was dying—it grew louder, and louder until I couldn't understand what it was. The next thing I knew was that the rope that had been constricting my neck was burnt and in the sand. Athena was furious.

"What did you do?" She screamed, half-nervous half-outraged.

"I-I-I don't know! I t just happened! I didn't do it!" And I was pretty sure I didn't.

"Sorry, if I caused any trouble. That was me." A voice said, through the water. I looked around, it seemed to be coming from above me.

"What the…" I looked up, trying to see who he was. It had been a male voice. Percy gave low chuckle and hugged Annabeth tighter, who was having a hard time even standing.

"Would you stop, and touch the sea floor. Sand isn't that bad you know."

"Fine, whatever." The voice said again, and I knew it touched the floor, because the sand had stirred. A figure started to come into view, his body slowly appearing 'till he was whole. He had blonde hair and blue eyes, like me, except his eyes were different. Mine were what people say a crystal blue, his were brighter, more electric. Oh gods, no way. This was Jason, and though Percy didn't mention it, I could tell he was Thalia's brother. The features were the same, but his just a little sturdier, more like he was built for tough battle. Poseidon was pissed.

"How dare you…" He said, pointing his trident at Jason.

"Hey I didn't ask to be born. It just happened." Jason said, shrugging. I looked from him to Percy.

"You guys just love to piss off Olympians don't you?" I said.

"Yep, pretty much." Jason said, grinning.

"Annabeth, Annabeth." Percy said, shaking Annabeth vigorously. She didn't respond. "Why won't she breath, I'm right here, I'm trying to help her but she won't respond." He said, looking from me to Jason.

"Ok, why do I feel like Annabeth is on the verge of dying?" Nico said, appearing in the water.

"Really? You too, honestly." I said, starting to breathe heavy, now I was sure I was losing oxygen.

"Yes, isn't this going to be fun." He said, and then looked at Annabeth. "Why are you not rushing her to the surface, may I ask?" He shouted.

"She isn't responding, she's not even breathing!" Percy shouted back.

"Well, she isn't dead yet!" Nico confirmed.

"She will be soon." Hades said, appearing in the water with Zeus. Ok, now this is bad, this very bad, we're all going to die. Everyone was giving each other intense glares, and since I was the only one without my parent there, I decided to break the silence.

"Well, you know, things are getting a little tense…and I honestly am getting light headed. So, I think we should just go our separate ways and—" I was interrupted by Percy.

"Luke, run as fast as you can back to the castle," He told me picking up Annabeth and gently putting her in my arms. "Run as fast as you can, and avoid the wise ass." He gestured toward Athena. "There is a good chance she is going to follow you."

"Percy," I gave him a very nervous look. "What are you going to do?"

"Just go." And I ran, ran as fast as I could. I was a bullet underwater, and I wouldn't stop. The pressure increased in my head, and water rushed in my ears, and the only thing I could sense was a something very powerful chasing behind me. I saw something ahead, it must have been the castle, but how was I going to get there without her seeing what I was doing. She was smart enough to figure out what I had been running into. I picked up my speed and Athena started to fall back.

If I could just run a little faster, and I did. My legs ached, water filled my lungs, my eyes burned. Athena was gone, I broke through the boundary, up the seafloor, straight onto the beach that surrounded the castle, and started to hack the sea water out of my airways. I looked at Annabeth, she was soaked and still as a statue. I crawled over to her and shook her; she didn't respond.

"Annabeth," I kept shaking her. "Annabeth, wake up, come on. Am I honestly going to have to do what I think I'm going to have to do?" I said through clenched teeth. Not one muscle in her body stirred. I gave up, and my lips found hers. They pushed air down her throat, and then my hands were pushing hard on her chest; again, and again, but still nothing. I tried one more time; there were tears in my eyes. She couldn't die, she was like a sister to me, she couldn't just be gone.

"Annabeth," I cried. "Please don't be dead, Annabeth." I hid my face in her long, blonde curls, and kept perfectly still, hoping for a miracle. I took her hand in mine and the minutes went by. I pictured us on the run, when we were all happy. Creating camp sites, swimming in rivers, stealing fast food from drive-thrus, running away from the monsters. It might have been scary when we were running, but it was fun, our adrenaline high and our hearts racing, our heartbeats louder than I could ever imagine.

My body shot up from the sand and I looked down at Annabeth, she was coughing and hacking, trying to get the water out of her body. I grabbed her hand with one of mine and placed my other hand on her back, helping her sit up as she spit out the rest of the water.

"Annabeth, are you alright?" I asked, she opened her eyes and gave me a cold look.

"Yes Luke, I'm perfectly fine, you know after nearly dying." I didn't let this bother me, I just squeezed her tightly and smiled.

"Shut up, Annie." I said, still grinning.

"You're lucky I'm not going to tell Percy what just happened." Someone said from behind us. We both turned our heads, mine now a bright scarlet, and looked to see who just spoke. Thalia was standing a foot away looking down at us, one of her eyebrows raised and a smirk plastered to her face. Annabeth and I looked at each other; our response was almost immediate.

"He was only trying to save me!—She almost died, so I have to give her CPR.—Yes! And now I'm not dead, and I look at him as a big brother who saved my life.—And she views me that way because—We are only—Friends!" We both shouted the last part. Thalia tried not to laugh as she walked over and kissed me on the cheek, step over to Annabeth and gave her a big hug, then started walking back towards the castle. We stared at her.

"Um, Thalia? Percy, Nico, and..uh..your brother…" I started.

"Yeah, um, should we go back." Annabeth continued.

"Because your dad…" I went on. Thalia turned back to us.

"Where going to meet them in Egypt of course." She said. I'm pretty sure I had a look of complete horror on my face, because Thalia cocked another eyebrow, daring me to say something. My eye twitched.

"E-E-Egypt?" I screamed, and started running after her; she spun back around quickly and sprinted towards the castle. Annabeth ran after me, trying not to laugh at how mad I was. I couldn't believe what was going to happen.

Someplace Somewhere:

"Damn!" Perseus exclaimed, slamming his fist on the table. "I can't believe they keep escaping!"

"Come on, it's not that bad." A woman said, she looked a lot like the demi-goddess who attacked Silena. Annabeth's sister.

"Elizabeth, are you kidding me? We have to kill all of them, and soon, or else they're going to send us back to the Underworld and we will never get our chance." He said, putting his face in his palms and groaning. A sea breeze drifted into the room, and there appeared a man, someone who didn't look like he could stand on two legs. He sat down in one of the chairs in the luxurious room, and gave a grunt.

"That stupid, annoying, little, pathetic, young brat!" Triton spat.

"I'm guessing trapping your youngest brother was a little too difficult for you." Elizabeth said, glaring. Triton mimicked her sentence in a high pitched voice. "Don't mimic me two tails!" Triton did it again. "Ugh. I cannot be near him." She said, getting off the couch, and disappearing down a hallway. Just then, two men came barging into the room.

"Orpheus, Vincenzo." Triton said, acknowledging them. Vincenzo went over to the couch and sat down, putting his feet up on the coffee table. His skin was very pale, and his eyes were black. This was the man who had attacked Jessica. He looked at Orpheus, who was also sitting down.

"Do you see us having any chance at catching one of them?" He asked, and Orpheus shook his head, eyes closed.

"Not a chance, but if we really want to know, then we should ask the Oracle." He said, looking up. Suddenly, something very scary became clear in all of their minds.

"Well," Perseus grinned evilly. "Let's go…ask…the Oracle."


	17. Chapter 16

I'm really sorry. :( I don't update this as much as I should, but I just have a lot of work. Hopefully as it gets closer towards Spring season all the work will lighten to an extent. Here is Chapter 16, I hope you enjoy it and thank you for reading!

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><p>Percy Jackson – SECRETS – Chap. 16<p>

Percy:

I was lying on some random beach, my face buried in the sand, the waves crashing softly against the shore, repeatedly washing up against my legs and for the first time—I was completely soaked. All I remembered was a bunch of flashes and a lot noise. I heard a noise next to me, someone seemed to be coughing. I turned my head to see Jason trying to get into a sitting position.

"So much for fatherly love." Jason said, bitterly. I laughed the best I could, but then clutched my side, and winced in pain. Jason looked at where my hand was, and his eyes widened.

"No. . .no, no, no, no." He crawled over to me, and pushed me on my back. "Perce take your damn hand of your side." I removed my hand, and looked at him.

"What's wrong?" I croaked. Obviously I had been beat up more than Jason, I couldn't move. My whole entire body felt off for some reason.

"Look at your hand." He said, nodding to it. I lifted my hand and stared at it; it was covered in blood. I drew in a sharp breathe, and then coughed again.

"My Achilles' Heel!" I said, starting to panic. "Did they know. . .they couldn't have known where it was! Am I dying? Oh, Annabeth is gonna kill me!" I moaned.

"She can't do that if you're already dead." I heard Jason mumble. Something grumbled on the other side of me and I turned to see a body on the sand a few feet away. "Nico is that you?" Jason called.

"No, it's some surfer dude who got washed up on the shore when Percy brought us here and almost destroyed the beach. Who do you think it is?" Nico said, walking over on his knees. "You neither dead nor dying Percy, they just took it away."

"What?" I flipped. "Can they do that?" I turned to Jason, and repeated my question just slightly more panicked. "Can they do that?"

"Percy, they can do anything they want! They're gods!" Jason shouted, and looked around again. "Where the hell are we?" I thought for a moment. Where had I taken us?

"Well, the beaches are perfect, the water is clear, and weren't we on our way to Egypt?" Nico said.

"Yes, and you never did tell me why we were going to Egypt." I said to Nico. He waved his hand telling me he'd explain later.

"Well it's pretty obvious were in the Mediterranean. That's the only body of seawater that connects to an ocean that is even close to Egypt." Nico said. Both Jason and I gave him a look. "What?" He asked annoyed.

"How do you know all of that?" Jason asked, scrunching his eyebrows.

"Well I'm sorry if a military school in Washington teaches kids to hard." Nico said. Jason rolled his eyes, Nico pretended not to hear it. "Come on, I'll stitch you up, and tell you why were going to Egypt while I'm doing it."

Jason and Nico helped me up but we barely took one step before we crashed to the sand again. We all said only one word. "Ow."

"Damn it Percy will you hold still." Nico said through closed teeth.

"I'm sorry, it's annoying and it hurts." I said. I tried not to focus on it, but the constant pricking of the needle on my skin was really starting to bug me. Turns out once I had taken my shirt off we saw that it was worse than expected. There had been a giant gash right down my side. Nico was currently sowing me together with thread and needle. "I still can't believe you found someone with a sewing kit."

"I still can't believe you landed us fifty feet away from a crowded beach." He replied. I stuck my tongue out, and rolled my eyes glad he couldn't see me since he was focusing on the cut. Just then Justin came running up to us, slightly out of breathe. I chuckled a little.

"Have fun running on sand? Seems harder than it looks." I said to him.

"Oh will you." Jason said, sitting on the sand. "So, I talked to a couple of people and…"

"And…?" I asked looking at him just as quizzically as Nico was.

"I had no idea what anyone was saying!" Jason said.

"What? I understood them fine." Nico said through his teeth again.

"Ow!" I jumped. "You hit nerve."

"Sorry." He answered. "Jason, I understood them."

"Well, I don't know what they're saying." Jason said. "I know English, and Latin."

"Well than they must be speaking Greek, because it's obviously not English." Nico said.

"I've heard a lot of people speak Greek, including you two. Doesn't sound anything like it." Jason said, thoughtfully. Something had just resurfaced in my head.

"Hey Nico, aren't you part Italian?" I asked.

"Yea, on my mom's side." He said, than his eyebrows scrunched together. "Wait, how did you know that?"

"Well during the war I had this dream of you in the Underworld and…" I saw the look he was giving me, then gave a cough and said. "Nevermind—Anyway it seems you're the only one who can understand them, so maybe they're speaking Italian."

"I did understand some of the stuff they were saying, but only a little." Jason added. "So, wait . . . Percy, you sent us to Italy?" Jason shouted.

"Ugh. . .I guess." I said.

"Well, then I guess it won't be that hard for everyone to find us. Sooner we get to Lee, sooner you can be healed." Nico said, standing up.

"I still don't understand why I can't just jump in the water."

"Do you want them to be able to find us again? We have act as human-ish as possible." He said, slapping the back of my head lightly.

"Anyway, let's try and see if we can get to a city, near a phone." Jason interrupted, standing up.

"Ok." Nico and I agreed. I put my shirt back on, slowly, and we headed in land.

Katie:

"Thalia, where are they?" I asked, walking in unison with my cousin.

"I don't know, I didn't get a call yet." As if on cue, her phone rang. She hit a button and pressed it to her ear. After a few minutes of random banter, she ended the call.

"Well?" I asked, giving her a look.

"That was Jason. They're in Rome." Thalia said, putting the phone back in her pocket.

"Jason must be pleased." I said, looking behind me. Everyone was laughing and jumping on each other. "Guys, were going to Rome" I called. Lee and Silena smiled almost instantly.

"Clothes!" Silena squealed.

"Girls!" Lee yelled. Zoe rammed into him, and sent him into a building wall. He bounced back and pushed her straight into Pollux. I "tsk,tsk"ed and then turned my head back around to Thalia.

"So, how are we getting to Rome? 'Cause where in France right now." I asked her. Thalia looked at me, than a crowded parking lot, back at me, and then back at the parking lot. Ohmygods.

"No." I said almost immediately.

"Yes." She said back.

"No." I said, more commanding.

"Yes." Thalia grinned, her eyes scanning the parking lot.

"I'm not letting you do this." I said, grinding my teeth together.

"Yes you are."

"You are not doing this!" I yelled.

"I can't believe you're doing this." I said tonelessly as we sped down a road. Thalia smirked back and pushed her foot down on the stolen gas pedal that was attached to the stolen Porsche that was leading the four other stolen cars.

"Come on," She laughed. "At least were getting there."

"Yea, yea." I said, kicking my feet up on the dashboard.

"Hey, hey. What happened to our prim and proper princess? I don't think princess's put their feet up on the dashboard." Thalia said leaning over to tap my boots.

"Yea right. It's going to be a long ride, and I'm getting comfortable." I laughed, punching her lightly on the shoulder as we sped through the country side.

Clarisse:

I was lying across the back seat of the convertible. My feet rested in Pollux's lap, and the air conditioning kept hitting my arms, giving me a bunch of goose bumps. I had a weird feeling that we were missing someone. I mean, we had everyone, but someone wasn't with us. Pollux squeezed my ankle, he knew I was upset. I sat up and leaned against him. A perfect pair of glammed out eyes stared at me through the rear-view mirrors. I saw bright red lips frown and then I was staring a face that was covered in make-up that wasn't needed.

"What's wrong?" Silena frowned.

"Nothing. Don't stress." I said, trying to wave her away. But of course, it didn't work.

"Pollux, switch with me." She said, jumping over the seats, and into the back. Pollux quickly switched over to the front. My best friend hugged me close, and patted me on the back. "Come on, fess up. I know something is on your mind."

"Ok, I feel like we're missing someone." I said, playing with my hands.

"But we have everyone. Even Jessica, and that's saying something. Persephone isn't even an Olympian. So, we have everyone. And if this thing doesn't go too smoothly, most likely the cursed ones of minor gods will show up." Beckendorf said, interrupting.

"Shut up Fenderbender, I'm not good with words." I said.

"Listen, we're going to be in Rome in about two hours. Ok? We can tell Annabeth, she's good with this stuff. Maybe Katie feels like this to. She's good at this kind of stuff. I don't know." Silena said, frowning. I knew where she was coming from; none of us were good with this empty feeling stuff.

Camp Half-Blood – In A Cave – Covered By A Curtain:

It was nearly past two o'clock at night when the red-headed oracle was pulled out of her sleep. Her green eyes looked around her high tech cave, and spotted nothing, but she wasn't fooled after what she had been through in the last few years. She pulled the dagger, which she had learned to use, out from her bedside drawer and slid off her bed. Her feet were silent as she walked to the entrance of the cave. Nothing.

The oracle shook her head and thought it must have been paranoia. She was perfectly safe in the camp. Just then something clattered to the ground at the back of the cave. Fear shot through her veins as she hesitantly turned around and spoke up.

"Who's there?" Rachel asked. Although she wanted to keep it out, fear was mixed deeply into her voice. "Who's there?" She asked again, speaking louder and more clearly.

"That I cannot tell you." A cold voice said from the back of the cave.

"Why are you here?" Rachel said, stepping towards the entrance. Someone stepped in front, and blocked, the only exit.

"We're here, because we need answers." The person said. This voice was different from the one at the back of the cave.

"Oh, you mean a prophecy." Rachel said shakily, backing up against a wall.

"He didn't say prophecy." The cold voice said, much closer now than it was before.

"I said answers." The other man said. Before Rachel knew what had happened she was tied up and lying on the beach. Before they were about to gag her she saw Will Solace walking out of his cabin, the last thing she remembered was screaming before she was quickly gagged and knocked out.


	18. Chapter 17

Whoop! Chapter 17! Yay, surprise at the end of this chapter! ^^ So, I was wondering, have any of you heard of the youtubers like JennaMarbles, Kingsley, Nanalew, or Meekakitty? Not asking for any particular reason, just wanted to ask, because I'm watching one of their videos right now and it's putting me in a really good mood.

Anyway, back to the point. These next few chapters are some of my favorites honestly and I'm going to try to upload chapters as quickly as possible. I haven't been able to work on my most recent chapter and it's making me cry eternally. Well, enjoy the chapter, thanks for reading, and please review! :D

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><p>Percy Jackson – SECRETS – Chap. 17<p>

Annabeth:

"You think we're missing someone?" I asked again.

"Yea, like…not someone we already know, but someone we haven't found yet. Someone who belongs with us." Clarisse explained, her eyebrows knitting together. She was really confused, and this wasn't Clarisse. Clarisse was straight forward, and had a grip on things. Something must have really been messing with her.

"Hmm, but who could we be missing. We'll figure this out as we go along Clarisse. Come on, everyone's sitting by the fountain." I led Clarisse back to Trevi Fountain where everyone was lounging. Lee and Zoe were actually getting a long for once and eating gelato. Luke, Jess, and Katie were talking about something, maybe the fountain's history, but they weren't the fact junkies—I was. Clarisse walked over and joined Silena, Pollux, and Beckendorf. Thalia was sitting alone, looking at the water. Time to be the brainy best friend she adores!

"Ok. What's wrong?" I asked, sitting down on the ledge.

"Nothing's wrong—I'm serious." She said making sure I wouldn't worry.

"Ok, then what's up?" I asked, trying to achieve a lighter tone. Thalia smiled.

"Nothing, it's just…I haven't seen Jason in a long time." She said, still smiling. I smiled back.

"You miss your little brother." I said, poking her stomach. She giggled, and I laughed.

"Ohmygods, stop. It's normal for sisters to miss their brothers." She stuck her tongue out. I stuck my tongue back. We gave each other a big hug, and everything was normal again.

"So, I still don't understand this power thing. Mind explaining? You know I won't be able to stop thinking about it until I figure it out."

"I thought your superior mind would be able to figure this out by now," I gave her look. "But don't worry. For I will rescue you from a sleepless night and explain." She said, lying on me, and pretending she was me—the damsel in distress.

"Alright, explain." I chuckled.

"First of all. Neither of us keeps most of it. It's not like Jason is getting our dad's power because he is the guy, and I'm getting our step-mom's power because I'm the girl. We share it. I get half and half, and Jason get's half and half. Get it?" She asked.

"Yes, but why don't you guys just choose?" I asked, calculating anything and everything.

"We find that it'll be easier this way." She concluded.

"Aw, aren't you two the perfect siblings." I said, nudging her shoulder. She nudged me back. I nudged her harder. She shoved me lightly. I shoved back. We started laughing, and out of nowhere Thalia put her hand in the fountain and splashed me. I splashed back. I shoved her and she almost fell in the fountain. We both had surprised looks on our faces.

"Oh no you didn't." She said, grinning.

"Oops." I said, slowly shrugging. She steadied herself, and shoved me back, laughing. Now, if I had been steadying myself, I would have been fine…but I hadn't been steadying myself. Splash! I was soaked. Thalia stood up and covered her mouth, than she started waving her hands, and mouthed the word 'Sorry' again and again. Passer bys must have thought she was in trouble, but they couldn't see her trying not to smile, and they couldn't see me trying not to laugh.

"Aw, that's no fair! Who threw my girlfriend in the fountain? That was my job!" Percy said, walking up to us. My boyfriend is back. I couldn't stop the goofy smile that spread across my face. He got down on his knees and leaned over the fountain. I crawled up to him, and pulled myself up on the ledge. "I missed you."

"I know you did." I said.

"You look pretty when you're soaking wet, in a fountain." He said. I laughed, and then kissed him. Some of people near the fountain clapped and yelled. I blushed. Percy helped me out. I looked over to Thalia, and I saw she was hugging someone. Jason. He looked just like Thalia, except for the blond hair.

Everyone walked up to Jason and introduced themselves. People were shaking hands, and hugging, various names were being tossed around. Jason made his way through everyone, and when he got to me I shook his hand.

"Hi. I'm Annabeth." I smiled kindly. He smiled back.

"Hey. I'm Jason. I've heard a lot about you Annabeth." He flashed his eyes towards Percy in an attempt to get him in trouble. I bumped into Percy and he gave a laugh.

"Yep, I guess I just can't seem to keep my mouth shut." He said.

"You can't," I said, hugging him. "That's why most of the Greek population hates you." He chuckled.

"I'm gonna go; leave you two lovebirds alone." Jason said, backing up and walking away. I smiled again. Everything was perfect. Everyone was safe. And with everyone working together, I bet we could figure this out in no time.

"So, anything interesting happen while I was gone?" He asked.

"Anything besides getting thrown in the fountain. Hm, let me think. Clarisse said she felt like someone was missing. Oh, and would you please dry me off with that magic water power you have." I said, and I also gave him the puppy pout, just for affect.

"Nope, I can't. I have to keep on the down-low."

". . .You got your ass kicked." I laughed.

"You seem to be laughing a lot. What brings this good mood, and what can I do to keep it there? And yes, I got my ass whooped. Alright." He said. Out of the corner of my eye I saw him absentmindedly run his hand over an area on his side. He probably thought I wouldn't notice, but I always did. I pointed to where he had touched.

"What happened there?" He glanced where my finger was pointing, and gave a short and quick answer.

"Nothing. It was just a chill." He said. I moved to pull up his shirt, but he grabbed my hand.

"Let me see."

"No."

"Percy, let me see." I tried grabbing his shirt again, but he grabbed my other hand. I started struggling with me. "Percy, I swear, let me see what is under you shirt." We both kept struggling, but I managed to rip out of his grasp and pull up his shirt. I gasped, and stared at the neatly stitched cut. It was new, that was obvious. Percy was frowning.

"They took it away. They took your Achilles Curse away." I said. He grimaced.

"Yep. So . . . I can die now. Woohoo!" He waved his hands in the air, and I hit him in the chest.

"Perseus Jackson, this is not funny what so ever." I scolded. We sat in silence after that, just holding each other. Thinking. I seriously don't know what I would do without my Seaweed Brain. After awhile Percy broke away.

"You said that Clarisse thought someone was missing?" He asked.

"I guess you do listen to everything I say." He smiled. "Yes, she said someone was missing. Do you have the same feeling?"

"No. I think it's weird. We have everyone."

"I know," I sighed. "But then again, you can never be sure."

"Ok, don't get all wise and start quoting things, because I will be completely lost."

"Alright. We should go and find everyone anyway. Thalia said something about going to find something to eat." I said.

"Let's start walking then." We both stood up, I was now dry again, and he offered me his hand. I took it and we started to walk into the crowd.

"This place is beautiful. Not too bad for a bunch of Romans, you have to admit." I said, starting up conversation.

"Meh." Percy shrugged. I bumped myself into him.

"Admit iittt."

"Fine. It's really cool." He said. We kept walking, the conversation dying out quickly; we were comfortable in each other's silence. My eyes wandered, looking at stores, and into shops. My ears picked up people's conversations, but I couldn't understand most of it. I jumped slightly when a buzzing came from my back pocket. It was my phone. Thalia had texted me.

Meet us at Bellissimo Tramonto. You'll see it.

"Looks like we're going to dinner." I said, and we kept walking. By the time we reached the restaurant I was just about to start chewing on my hand. I hadn't realized how hungry I was. The waiter escorted us to the table where our friends were eating. Thalia had ordered both of us big plates of spaghetti. "Ohmygods, Thalia, I love you." And I immediately began stuffing my face.

"Hey Cuz, what's going on?" Thalia asked.

"Nothing much. Getting kicked in the ass by our parents. You?"

"Stealing cars. The usual." Both of them laughed, and the banter continued.

Clarisse:

I stayed quiet while everyone was eating, because I didn't feel right. There was this feeling in the pit of my stomach. It wasn't the missing feeling, not anything like loneliness. I started to feel complete. Not as if my mind figured out we weren't missing someone, but more like whoever was missing was getting closer.

Annabeth:

"Would you two hush? I'm trying to eat." My voice was muffled by the pasta, but they understood.

"Well, I'm sorry, but we're done eating. And we have nothing else to do but talk." Thalia said, raising her arms and shaking her head.

"She's right. And Annabeth, isn't that your second plate of spaghetti?" Percy asked. I turned my heads toward him and swallowed the remainder of the food in my mouth. I decided to mess with him.

"Are you calling me fat?" I asked, faking the sign of hurt on my face. He was shocked.

"No, no. No I wasn't! I was just trying to make a joke! I don't think your fat at all! I just-just - please forgive me!" Percy begged. I couldn't help myself and started giggling. "Not fair." Percy mumbled, sticking his head down. I shoveled the remainder of my pasta into my mouth and began chewing. The waiter came over and spoke to Thalia, probably asking when we were going to leave, but I couldn't hear anything. The strange thing was when he left I still felt someone's presence behind me. I swallowed my food, looked around, and gasped.

Behind me was a girl. Someone I had never seen before, yet her appearance looked ironically familiar. The last rays of sunlight had pierced the windows and were shining down on her. They made her brown hair turn hues of gold and red. Her pale skin was bright in the sunlight, making her a little hard to look at. She looked like a wealthy teen, wearing designer brands that even I knew. Her big glasses hid her eyes. The way she stood could tell anyone that she wasn't one to be messed with, but I could tell she was a very soft person underneath. She was flawless, and she reminded me Thalia. Not only Thalia, but Katie as well. She seemed to be observing everyone, but when she looked down at me it was so sudden I jumped a little. Her lips formed into a smile, and I was flooded with warmth. Not only warmth, but a feeling of protection. She offered me her hand and I shook it, not sure what I was doing.

"I'm Samantha. Heir, and Cursed One of Hestia, my mother." She said.

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><p>A little description of Samantha.<p>

There isn't much to tell, since her character develops through the story. You won't know much about her until later on, but she is very kind and wants to help everyone as much as she possibly can.


	19. Chapter 18

Percy Jackson – Chap. 18

Clarisse:

The strange feeling was gone. I felt fine. Instinctively, I looked around to check if anything at all was strange or wrong. I came up with nothing, except for some girl about my age at the end of the table. Most likely a waitress. Ha, I bet the Kelp Head is having a hard time trying to guess what she is saying. Just when I was going to return to my food, out of the corner of my eye I saw her walking towards me. I turned my head slowly in her direction, keeping my eyes locked on her face.

She wasn't a waitress, she didn't have any uniform. Actually she was dressed quite nicely, almost to impress. Her feet carried her straight up to me, and her mouth spoke a few words. Her voice was very soft.

"Hi. Thank you for helping me find everyone, I owe you." Then she stood there, and waited for me to respond, but I couldn't. I sat and stared blankly. Who the hell was this girl? She turned a little and started speaking to Silena, most likely thanking her because Silena must have complimented on the girls designer…well everything. Of course, me being a demi-god and that coming with the ADD/ADHD, I didn't realize that I had blurted out a very rude and stupid question.

"Who the hell are you?" I asked, and then regretting it a millisecond later. I covered my mouth and looked up at the girl, expecting to see a hurt look on her face. But she wasn't fazed, almost as if she had done it before and knew how it felt.

"I'm Samantha. You can call me Sammie if you must." She smiled and held out her hand. I gave it a slight shake, but continued to be confused. She saw the look in my eyes and then added. "I'm the heir of Hestia, she is my mother. I'm the one who gave you that weird feeling. I'm sorry, but it helped me find you guys." I'm pretty sure everyone around me was shocked, just like the people at the other end of the table were a few seconds ago. Everyone grew silent, just staring at each other, most staring at Sammie.

"Look at that, she's smart and has a great sense of style. You have just been beaten Silena." Zoe said, probably not meaning to say it out loud, but it broke the silence and everyone burst with laughter.

"Hey!" Silena said, crossing her arms, and scrunching down in her seat.

"Come on be a good sport." Beckendorf said, kissing her on the cheek.

"Here sit down…Cuz." Nico said, pulling a chair from an empty look. Samantha and him exchanged wary looks, but she took the seat next to him with a smile.

"Well now that everyone is here," Jason said. "Everyone is here, right?" He glanced at Sammie. She gave him a nod, and I guess that was good enough for him. "Since everyone is here, where do we go now?" We all looked at one boy in particular.

"Egypt." Luke said, pouting. But everyone could tell that he had confidence in us to go where ever the Titan King had sent him. Everyone had hope in them, we could do this.

Luke:

The sun beat down on me with no mercy. My feet dug into the burning sand, again and again. I knew where we were going, but getting there wasn't going to be easy. The only thing that was making our journey a little bit better is that we finally found out what library we were headed for. It took a lot of searching, but we found it, and when we did . . . it was a bit of a shock.

"_The answer has to be somewhere Luke." Annabeth sighed, sifting through more and more pages. "It doesn't even have to be an old hidden library; it could be something the entire world knows about."_

"_Ok, but that doesn't explain why it looked as if no one had been in it for ages." I said, pulling yet another book off the shelf. This one had a muggy odor, and felt really damp. "Gross."_

"_I don't think we're looking in the right section. Maybe if the library looked deserted we shouldn't be looking in a public library that humans use." She said. I shot her a look and knew she didn't believe what she just said. "Ok, yea, you got me."_

_I sighed, put the book back on the shelf, and took a chair next to her at the table she was seated._

"_Give me your best guess." _

"_Alright," She started. "You said it was in Egypt. There aren't many libraries in Egypt humans know about, I don't even know any of them. If there is any at all. You also said it looked deserted, so it couldn't be something anyone has been in for very long, so it must be hidden or people think it isn't safe—" _

"_Oh, trust me, it wasn't safe at all." I interrupted. She shot me a look and I clamped my jaws together._

"_So, in conclusion, it's a library no one has been in for a long time." She started ticking off her fingers. "People must have to know about it, but don't dare try and find out more about it. And you got in there with the help from a titan."_

"_Uh…"_

"_There is only one place I can think of: Library of Alexandria. You know, Alexander the Great , all that stuff."_

I have to tell you I hadn't been expecting anything like that. And when we told everyone, their reactions were a little weird.

"_This is great. I'm going to dry up and become a fried fish stick." Percy groaned. Which then led Nico to laugh, and that got him punched._

"_I'm going to get one heck of a tan." Silena said, looking at her skin as if expecting to see it darker already._

"_We're going to have to be really careful. That place burnt down, didn't it?" Pollux had asked._

"_Yea, but when I went there, it looked all bright and shiny and new." I answered. Annabeth punched me on the shoulder. "What's that for?"_

"_I thought you said it looked like no one had been there for ages." She semi-yelled._

"_It did! There was no one there, and there was dust everywhere. But I could still see the gold, and the tables and chairs looked re-done, but I'm telling you they were old."_

And here we were, heading for Alexander's Library. We could have gotten there sooner, with everyone power and special abilities, but do we want our parents to find us? No. Even though we couldn't do anything, we still had the traits that came with being a demi-god, and we knew we were the only ones for miles around. Someone ran up to my side and offered me a drink of water; I took a sip and handed it back, not really paying attention to who was next to me.

"Luke? Luke are you even listening to me?" My name being spoken by that voice broke me out of my trance and I looked over to see Thalia gazing at me in confusion.

"Sorry! Um, I was thinking about stuff." I apologized, whipping the sweat of my face and running my hand through my hair.

"It's alright. I think everyone is a little lost right now." Thalia said, flashing me a smile. It made me happy to see it there. For the first time I noticed what she was wearing, I usually couldn't pull myself away from her eyes enough to get the full view of her. The khaki shorts, blue shirt, and hiking boots were more her than the hunter clothing ever was. But I did notice something wasn't right.

"What has happened to your punk styled get up?" I asked.

"Well," She said, smiling. "I would have love to have worn my ripped, black jeans and my 'Death to Barbie' t-shirt, but we are in a desert so I thought I'd go light."

"I understand." I said, wrapping my arm around her, even though it had to be over 100 degrees.

"But . . . there is no need to worry. I will always have a little punk with me." She pushed her hair back and showed me two little silver skull earrings, and I gave her a little squeeze.

"That's my Thalia." I grinned.

"Hey Zoe!" Lee called. His voice made a weird echoing noise. "How far away are we from this library?"

"What? You think just because I used to be a hunter, and now I'm the Heir of Artemis, I'm your portable GPS?" She yelled back, offended. Then Lee bluntly stated.

"Yes." Zoe gasped and they both started bickering. A few of us chuckled, others just smiled, we were all really exhausted.

Time passed and we kept walking. My head hang low, keeping my face away from the sun, all our water ran disappeared, and by the time the sun started setting I'm pretty sure I was drinking my own sweat. We had to find shade, or food, or shelter somewhere; if not, this wasn't going to end well.

Percy:

It was hot. That's all there was to say. I couldn't make it simpler than that. It was hot, and I was dry. There wasn't water for miles around, and I was getting seriously light-headed. Half of us had shed articles of our clothing. Most of us guys were walking shirtless, and the girls went from t-shirts to tang tops; although I did see Katie in what looked like just a bra. But even I didn't make a joke. It was seriously burning out here.

I kept my eyes on the sand like everyone else. My mind was blank. I was thinking about everything, and yet nothing at the same time. Mostly I just focused on my breathing. I didn't think I was going to have to fight anything in this sandy hell, but when something slipped out of my hand I gave a slight jump and my heart thumped loudly.

"Annabeth?" She was on her knees, her palms pressing against the sand. That's right; we had been holding hands while we were walking. This whole time we hadn't let go, the feeling must have become so normal we just stopped noticing.

"Percy—I can't—it's to—hot." She said, taking deep breath in between each word.

"No. Annabeth we can do this. It's just sand, and the sun is starting to set." I bent down and took her hand again. "Come let's keep going, we can't stop."

"Percy just go. I'll be fine, I'll catch up to you guys."

"You'll lose us."

"No I won't. Go, I'm just going to rest a bit." Then she started to lie her body down on the sand and closed her eyes. I let out a sigh and brushed the hair out of her face. Her cheeks were flushed, and she had bits of sand in her eyelashes, but she was still so god damn beautiful. I took my thumb and traced her bottom lip, then whipped away some sand that had stuck to her chin. Suddenly I noticed something glinting on her neck. It was the heart I had given her. The heart made out of the tide crystals.

She had tied it a string around it and wore it as a necklace. I felt a smile spread across my face, and I bent down give her a peck on the lips. Her even breathing told me she was sleeping, I didn't want to wake her.

"Percy, come on!"

But I had to.

"Annabeth." I shook her lightly. "Annabeth come on, you got to get up." I shook a little harder this time and she twitched a little. Her eyes opened slowly and she started to lift her head, but when she saw me her head hit the sand again.

"I said go on."

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

"Yes."

"Not gonna' happen." I grabbed her wrist and pulled her into a sitting position. Then I grabbed her entire arm and in the blink of an eye she was on my back and we were moving.

"Seaweed Brain put me down! You're tired enough as it is!" She protested, but I had her wrists tightly around my neck and she couldn't pull out of my grasp. "Percy!"

"Nope."

"You're going to dry up like a fish out of water!" She yelled.

"Okay."

She surrendered and I heard her mumble, "You are so difficult sometimes."

"I heard you."

"You were supposed to." She mumbled again.

"We need to," Nico said loudly. "We need to find some place to sleep, it's going to be night soon."

"But it's cooler at night, we should just keep moving." Katie suggested. In response, everyone groaned, but we knew it was the smart thing to do.

"Fine, but I won't go anywhere if we don't get water in the next hour." Nico huffed.

"Oh, the boy who can handle temperatures of the Underworld can't handle the desert." Katie teased.

"Eh, hehe. You're hilarious." Nico stuck his tongue out at Katie.

"You're just grumpy because you can't wear your black shirt." She said, sticking her tongue back at him.

We kept walking, and walking, and walking.

Nico:

Night had fallen, and everything was getting cooler, but we still needed water. I had stopped sweating, my breathes were raspy, and my tongue was dry, _dry!_

"We're going to die in this gods forsaken desert." I said to Jessica.

"No we're not. I mean, it's not like you mean that, do you?" She asked.

"At this point, I honestly have no idea." I sighed. Jessica looked out to the horizon; of course I had no idea why she even lifted her head. There was nothing to see.

"There has to be some source of water around here; it's not like we're stuck in a gigantic hourglass." She said, laughing a little.

"We basically are, and I think you're starting to go a little insane, Jess." I kissed her on forehead, and she gave me a playful smack on the arm.

"Haha you're very funn . . . what's that? Nico, do you see that?" She was pointing to something in front of us, but I couldn't see a thing.

"Jessica, I don't see anything." I shook my head in sync with my words.

"Really? Hey everyone do you see that?" She spoke up this time, asking everyone. They glanced in her direction, and then looked to where her finger was pointing. I saw Annabeth hop off Percy's back and started discussing something with him as if she saw it, but he didn't. He shrugged his shoulder and gave his trademark confused look, telling me I was right.

"I think I see . . . something. What the hell is that?" Pollux yelled, shaking his head trying to make sure the heat wasn't playing tricks on him.

I could see Zoe cover her mouth with both hands, and to my surprise, there were tears forming at the corners of her eyes. Tears of joy. "That's a—" She began to scream.

"It's an oasis!" Beckendorf screamed, running towards what I couldn't see. Everyone followed as if they could finally see it too.

"Come on Nico." Jess said excitedly, pulling me towards the invisible oasis with new strength.

"But I can't see anything." I protested, and she stopped to get a good look at me.

"Rub the sand out of your eyes," She laughed. "Maybe then you'll see it." I did as I was told, and my eyes started to tear. There was a lot of sand around them, and caught in my eyelashes I have to admit. When I wiped the tears away and my vision cleared, I did see it. A bunch of palm trees had formed into a oval shape, and right in the middle moonlight was shining down on a circular pool of water!

"Yes!" I yelled. Jessica grabbed my hand and we followed everyone to the oasis.


	20. Chapter 19

Asdfghjkl! I'm almost done with Chapter 24! Hope you enjoy and thanks for reading! And please, please review It would mean a lot to me!

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><p>Percy Jackson – SECRETS – Chap. 19<p>

Olympian Throne Room:

The Olympians, once again, sat down in the throne room, using each other's power and knowledge to figure out a solution to the problem.

"Screw it all," Ares said, sitting back. "We're never going to find an answer, this hasn't happened in centuries."

"There is an answer, to every problem." Athena said, still flipping through the gigantic book in her hands.

"Please," Hera whined. "We've been searching through everything. Everything from the time we we're born, until now. I don't see how we could have missed something."

"We didn't search everything." Hermes said quickly.

"But still," Hera said. "It doesn't look like we're going to find anything for a long while."

In the distance there was the sound of a car engine, then almost instantly Apollo walked into the throne room, keys in hand. He fell back onto his throne, and sighed heavily.

"I can't find them anywhere. I searched everywhere, looking down from the sky. The sky! And I still can't find them." He said.

"Want me to search." Artemis said, staring at her brother, seeing how exhausted he was,

"I don't think it will do us any good." He said, looking at her and silently thanking her anyway.

"They're most likely hiding themselves." Hades said. "Not using their powers, new abilities, all of it. They're acting . . . normal."

"That must be hard for them." Dionysus said.

"Well, at least we have the other heroes searching." Zeus said.

"Well, they are somewhere near Europe, maybe Africa." Apollo said. Athena's head snapped up.

"Don't tell me they're heading for Greece."

"Maybe, I don't really know. They might be searching for information." Apollo answered.

"I bet they are," Hephaestus laughed bitterly "How to kill and Olympian 101."

"No, they wouldn't do that." Artemis sighed. " . . .Would they?" Everyone continued to feel uneasy.

Percy:

It had been a peaceful night. We all must have sat at that pool of water for at least an hour. I'm surprised we didn't run it dry. Yes, afterwards we should have kept walking since it was night and it was cooler, but we were so tired, most of us just crashed. At sunrise, now that they were rehydrated, Lee and Zoe were able to tell us how close we were to the library and we actually weren't that far. After yesterday we adapted to the deserts conditions pretty quickly so everyone was still full of energy.

"Are we there yet?" Clarisse whined.

"Almost." Zoe said, to preoccupied to yell at Clarisse. "For some reason there seems to be nothing beyond a certain point. I can't track anything passed it."

"Well, where is this point?" Jason asked.

"Right about . . . here." She planted her feet to the ground and looked straight ahead. So did everyone else.

"That's why you couldn't track anything." Thalia said. In front of us was a sand storm, well at least that's what it looked like, it was at least a mile high sand wall. It was moving, like a tornado, but it stayed in one place. I looked left and right but it kept going farther than I could see.

"It's like a giant, sand, wall, thingy." I found myself saying.

"Really Seaweed Brain, giant sand wall thingy?" Annabeth teased.

"Oh, shut up." I said, ducking my head.

"Can we get passed that?" Sammie said, shielding her eyes, trying to see how tall it was.

"I don't know. It just looks like a sand storm to me." Zoe sighed, she looked doubtful. Thalia huffed and started moving towards it.

"Well, we aren't going to get anywhere by standing here. Let's see what happens." She said. Luke's hand shot out and yanked her back.

"No!" Everyone one stared at him. "I-I remember this."

"Great, tell us how to get through." Lee grinned. Luke shook his head, and Lee's smile disappeared.

"I didn't get through it. When I and the goons who had come with me left the library, this wall started to appear. We made it out just in time, but some were caught in it."

"Do you know what happened to them?" I asked.

"No. I came back from the dead less than a week ago, give me a break." He said, crossing his arms against his chest. I looked back towards the wall, you could hear the sand whirling at high speeds, and I didn't want to know what would happen if you got caught in those.

"Here, I brought a spare sword. Let's see what happens when I stick it in." Beckendorf said, drawing the sword, and sticking it straight into the sand. He waited a few seconds, then withdrew it. It was fine. "I guess we can walk through it then." Beckendorf clarified. No one moved.

"Oh you're all a bunch of scaredy-cats, honestly." Clarisse said, charging in. Several of us reached out to stop her, but she swiftly maneuvered out of our reach, and into the sand wall. Everyone was still, no one made a sound. Then Clarisse's head popped out. "Well are you coming or not?" Then she disappeared once again. Thalia pried Luke's hand off her shoulder, and marched in next.

"Let's get this over with." Pollux said, and one by one we walked straight into the wall. Now, you'd think the sand would have only lasted about twenty feet or so. Just like all walls built to keep things out, but no, it kept going, and even though it wasn't tearing us apart, no matter how fast it went, it was no walk in the park. Once we had all stepped in to the sand tornado, after awhile we had to shield our eyes. I couldn't keep my mouth open long enough to take decent breathes, and even with my arms in front of my face, I still had to squint.

"This is impossible. We shouldn't have been able to get this far. We should have been suffocated by now." Annabeth said, and even though I knew she was beside me, her voice was still a whisper against the winds.

"Well, Annabeth, if you haven't noticed we're known for conquering the impossible. And if this is going to nag at your brain later, I just want to let you know, I am to the point of almost-suffocating." I spoke-screamed back at her, not sure if she could hear me.

"Oh, haha. I'm sorry I'm the only one who doesn't get bored while reading a textbook." Both of us decided not to continue the conversation, we needed the air. About fifteen minutes later, we made our way out.

"That wasn't so bad." Silena said, uncapping her canteen and chugging the water inside in a very un-Aphrodite daughter way.

"Yeah," Clarisse said. "But there has to be something else. It can't be that easy."

"Luke?" I asked.

"I don't remember anything else, except a few traps that we wrecked so those are gone. I was just wondering though, if that sand wall was that easy to get out of, why those guys disappeared. They were trained fighters in Kronos Army. They shouldn't have died." As if on a cue, a rumbling sound appeared.

"We're never going to get a gods' damn break are we." Jason said.

"Never." Nico said, grinning slightly. I snorted, and drew Riptide, looking in all directions. Everyone one slowly drew their weapons, looking around like I did. The noise was coming from all around us. It was so annoying, like that weird droning beep you get in your ear every so often; you couldn't get rid of it. You had to wait it out. Slowly the rumbling died down, until there was only the sound of the sand spinning. No one lowered their guard. There was a pounding in my head, being the Son of the God of Earthquakes had its setbacks. One thing is, when there was an Earthquake about to happen, you knew about it, but still what I felt right now was no earthquake. Sammie was the one to notice the slight shake of my head, and the tiny eye spazz.

"Percccyyyy?" She asked cautiously, stressing my name a bit. She wasn't holding a weapon.

"Earthquake?" Nico asked.

"No . . . but there's something moving under us." I said. Almost in one moment, my stomach clenched, the rumbling came back with unexpected force, and from what I could see, five or six . . . things. . . came out of the ground. Another four came charging out of the wall. And, as always, we were in deep trouble.

"Hey Beckendorf," Lee called out. "I think we'll be needing that spare sword." Without realizing it, everyone had gone back to back and now we were standing in a gigantic circle, facing the creatures. They didn't look like regular monsters. There were two different creatures, half were long and thin, the other big and bulky. Both faces held permanent scowls, I couldn't see the eyes, and I bet I probably didn't want to. When they moved it was almost like a landslide, rock against rock. Wait, where they made of rock?

"This is bad, this is very bad." Pollux said.

"How do you kill a rock?" Katie screamed, answering my suspicion.

"Annabeth?" I asked.

"For once, I've got nothing." She grimaced.

"Well, here goes nothing."

I ran at the one of the long monsters, it started to hiss, it was a snake. Great. I swung my sword to get its full attention; it had to be fifty feet tall. That was as tall as my dad. The snake looked down at me, and swung its tail down on me. It hit the ground hard, throwing sand everywhere. Sticking Riptide back in my pocket, I grabbed a hold of the tail and rose up to the mouth, jumping from the tail onto the nose. I could see the eyes now, they were carved out of stone as well except they could move, just like the jaw. The monster hissed, and I lost my footing, falling flat across the snout. The snake was wild now, thrashing back and forth trying to shake me off.

"How do I break a rock?" I screamed, hoping someone wasn't occupied at the moment.

"That's exactly it Percy, you break it!" I heard Annabeth answer. But how could you break something this big? The monster succeeded and I went flying. Thank goodness the sand somewhat cushioned my fall. I looked up and the snake was right above me, about to strike. Its head came down fast, but luckily I had ADHD and that made me just a bit quicker. Rolling over I pulled Riptide from my pocket and slashed at its eyes. One, two, three, nothing happened.

"Percy just break it!" Jason screamed.

"How?" I yelled.

"I don't know!"

"AHHHH!" I screamed in frustration, and I stopped thinking, it's like my instincts took over. This was like a mixture of mine and someone else's instincts. I was about to do something that felt like second nature, but I'm pretty sure I'd never done it before. Grabbing one of the snakes fangs as it struck at me a second time, I pulled myself up and on top of its nose once again. Giving a battle cry I plunged my sword straight down through the snakes head. The monster froze, and there was a strange noise coming from inside it, it was cracking. I broke it. The snake came crashing down, me along with it. Pollux and Beckendorf were the ones to pull me up.

"Perce? Percy? You alright?" Beckendorf asked, louder than needed.

"Huggghhh." Was all the only sound I could make.

"Percy that was amazing! That looked like something you're dad would…do." Pollux said.

"Yea." I said, grimacing. I picked myself and looked around. Everyone was still fighting, some of the monsters and parts cut off of them, but no fatal wounds. "Come on, there is still a lot of fight left in this battle."

Someplace Somewhere:

Rachel tugged at the chains that bound her to the old wooden chair. She was thirsty, hungry, and a bit bruised. The room she had been stuck in held no windows, and the door was shut so tightly she would never have been able to get out, if she ever even broke the chains. The only source of air she had was the small air vent on the ceiling, which she hadn't seen yet since all the light sources were turned off. Footsteps sounded down the hall and she stopped with the chains, sitting back in her chair. The door creaked open, and someone entered the room, turning on the lone light bulb right above the redhead.

"Where am I?" Rachel spat.

"In a broom closet, in a hotel." The man who had entered the closet answered her.

"You're terrible." Rachel hissed.

"I know I can be, but that is besides the point. Anyway, thinking of cooperating with us yet?"

"Never."

"I wouldn't be too sure about that."

"I wouldn't be too sure about that." He said arrogantly.

"Speak for yourself Triton, and to think that you could ever be a better son than Percy."Rachel said, regretting her words the second she said them. He turned and glared at her, raising his hand. She was going to get hit. Rachel closed her eyes, anticipating the blow, but nothing came. She opened her eyes and someone had grabbed Triton's hand. She had her long hair braided down her back, all the way to the waist, and it had little bits of silver mixed into it. A small silver vine wrapped around her head, a little blue jewel set in the middle of her forehead, almost like a crown.

She had a floor length dress, something you would see in Greek times, like a longer more elegant toga. Her face was twisted into a scowl, and she was glaring at Triton.

"We do not hit maidens, especially the Oracle." She hissed, pushing Triton's hand away. Then she turned her eyes on the wide-eyed red head. The woman's expression softened when she saw Rachel's dirty, tired state. "Please, I'm sorry what we have done to you, but we just need to know a few simple things and we'll let you go."

Rachel looked at the Hunter of Artemis, it was plain as day. But there was something else about her that had Rachel's mind spinning. She looked very kind; she must have been a lieutenant at some point. Then it clicked. An evil grin spread across the Oracle's face.

"Zoe replaced you didn't she." The redhead laughed.

"So, Theia, are you finding it hard to not hit her now?" Triton teased. Suddenly someone else entered the room, and both Theia and Triton left the room, smiling. This man was average size, black curly hair, and olive skin.

"Listen, you either give us some answers or we force the answers out of you." He said, placing his hands on either sides of her chair, making Rachel curl up. He grabbed her chin and made her look into his eyes. "You'll see I'm extremely convincing." Was it just Rachel, or were his eyes a bit too hypnotizing?


	21. Chapter 20

Percy Jackson – SECRETS – Chap. 20

Luke:

Mini-battles were raging left and right. I was sweating from head to toe, breathing heavy, scraped in a few different places, but still the only monster that disappeared was the one Percy killed. Slashing at these things didn't seem to do any good, and speed probably did not affect these monsters what-so-ever. You could chip them, and slice of small pieces, but nothing fatal. There had to be some way.

The closest battle to my left was Beckendorf with one of the rhino – looking statues. He hit, and hit, and hit again; once with a sword, next an axe, then a spear. I realized that, if you tried to focus on him alone, he wasn't holding multiple weapons, he had one weapon alone and it was changing forms. That guy was really talented with metal. The next blow he made wasn't with a tool, but his actual fist, and that hit took off a stone ear. He's got some major strength to.

On my right, a little farther away, Thalia was fighting one of the snakes. She had a spear in one hand, Aegis in the other. I saw a bow and quiver a little ways away from the battle, inside were many, multi-colored arrows. She leapt up onto the snakes back, hoping from one curve to the other, lifting her shield whenever the snake tried to snap at her. One final jump and she was on its head. It might have been just me, but boy did she look like a queen. Her black hair hung loosely around her shoulders; I think she liked it longer. Her stance was fitting of a warrior, strong and lithe; the area around her shimmered gold.

She hefted her spear, let out a mighty battle cry, and plunged it straight through the snakes head. It did have much effect on the creature, but it was awesome.

"Go Thalia!" I screamed before I could stop myself, and then quickly covered my mouth, hoping no one had heard me. Thankfully, no one did. Then something happened that made my heart skip a beat, or maybe just stop all together.

Thalia:

My small moment of victory didn't last long, I could feel the muscles in the stone snake move and shift (muscles in a stone snake? I don't know how. These monsters were weird.) and quickly ripped my spear out of the head, before it threw me off. I landed next to my bow. Thinking and acting as quickly as I could, I grabbed the bow and one of my dark silver arrows. The snake had recovered from its minor hit, and stared me down.

Out of the corner of my eyes, I saw its body twisting and curving, it pulled back its head and let out an ear-ringing hiss; it was going to strike. I stood there and waited. It launched itself at me, and at the last possible second I dove and rolled to the side. Quickly notching my arrow, which suddenly felt very heavy, I was able to shoot it straight through the monsters eyes. It pulled away, hissing and shaking, trying to remove the small annoyance. While it was distracted I climbed up its back, I drove my spear into the snakes head once again, but this time I matched my blow with a lightning bolt. The snake froze in mid-hiss, and I think I was listening to the same thing he was.

Something was cracking, I looked down and saw a straight line sprouting from the hole my spear had made traveling between my legs and heading for the snakes tail. I jumped, not really thinking about how high up in the air I was. The wind was loud against my ear, and the only thing I could hear was the cracking of stone. I prepared to hit the floor, but someone caught me before I could land, and we both fell to the floor. Jumping to my feet, I helped whoever it was up, and looked at the snake. It had split in two, a straight line down the middle.

"Thalia . . . that, that was incredible. Truly." The person next to me said, I looked over and it was Luke. As always. I knew what I just did wasn't a good thing, the curse was getting worse, but I still smiled. Fighting with everyone together, it may be strange, but I found a good sense of family. _'Perfect, you are turning out to be an amazing Hera.' _His voice sounded through my head, canceling everything out.

"Shut up! Just shut up!" I screamed at nothing.

"Thalia . . ." I opened my eyes and looked at the momentarily hurt look on his face, then he understood. "Oh."

"I'm fine, I'm fine. Let's just keep fighting." I said, gesturing towards the fight.

"Alright, but I don't think you have to worry much anymore. We're winning." He said, and I scanned the battlefield. He was right, we were.

Olympian Throne Room:

"What was that?" Poseidon said, bounding into the throne room.

"What was what?" Hermes said, startled. He toppled out of his seat, having previously been taking a nap. "Ow." He whined, rubbing the side of his head, and sitting back in his seat.

"My son, Percy. Apollo, go find them." He said.

"But I told you already, I can't—" The blond began.

"GO!" The elder god bellowed and off he went.

"What's going?" Demeter asked.

"I can sense them. Well, I can sense them and my power. He, Percy, he did something that only I would usually do. Of course all my children can do this, but this was extremely powerful. It has to be him." Poseidon rambled, pacing back and forth.

"Hephaestus, try to get us an image of them." Athena said.

"I'll try my best." He said, and suddenly a clutter of images appeared before him, and he started to click and re-arrange them.

"I don't see how you could be relieved by this. You sensing him means you he is still alive you buffoon!" Hades said, walking in.

"Well maybe I'm happy he is alive, especially after you put that gigantic gash in his side!" Poseidon argued back.

"Better him dead and have you safe, then him still be walking among the living and you having the chance of possibly dying any second!" Hades yelled, there was yet another awkward silence adding to the others in the past couple of days.

"Finally being the brothers you never were, gentlemen." Hestia said, walking to her throne, that also was just recently added.

"I think it's more like they're finally showing their brotherly love." Hera said, chuckling.

"Oh, you are all so hilarious." Hades growled, sinking into his throne. He knew they were right though, they haven't faced an experience like this in a long time. If their father had come back they would have been tortured and beat, but with this, they could actually die.

"I found them!" Hephaestus grinned, tapping his fingers more rapidly across the pictures. A gigantic screen formed in front of them and the picture showed teenagers battling big gray figures.

"What are those things?" Ares asked, squinting at monsters.

"They aren't regular monsters." Aphrodite said, hugging her knees to her chest. Throughout all this chaos, the goddess of beauty had still managed to keep her make-up perfect, and her hair glorious.

"They're guards. They're protecting something." Athena concluded. There was a faint popping noise and a book appeared in her hands. The pages started flipping themselves at a blinding speed and suddenly stopped. She ran her fingers down the page and stopped to re-read a few times, which was not normal for the Goddess of Wisdom, and then quietly snapped the book shut. Everyone was waiting for her answer.

"What are those things, Sis?"Ares asked.

"Those are the Stone Guards . . . of the . . . Library of Alexander the Great." She choked.

"That's what we forgot to check! That place has everything. Damnit!" Hermes said, face palming like he was a professional.

"It's lovely that you all figured what could lead to out impending doom, but why don't you all avert your eyes to the screen. " Apollo's voiced sounded through the throne room like it was coming from surround sound speaker.

"Whoa," Hermes said, looking very awestruck as he glanced around the room. "How are you doing that?"

"Hermes, I'm on my chariot! I'm looking at this stuff up front. Now shut up, and look at what they're doing." Apollo said. "Artemis you might want to pay close attention to those two darting figures in that one corner."

"Who?" Artemis focused the screen towards the fight that her brother had pointed out, and her eyes widened. "No, it couldn't be. She-she's dead. That couldn't be—but your son is dead to—it couldn't be . . ." The goddess had lost all sense of the word, speak.

Percy:

We were almost finished with this battle, all there was left was two rhinos. Beckendorf was finishing that one of by himself, with some minor help from Luke. The other was being taken down by Zoe and Lee, sort of. Everyone could tell their arrows weren't doing much damage, but no one was going to get in the middle of that fight. They were darting around the monsters when suddenly Lee screamed out.

"Zoe, the wire arrows!" I had no idea what this meant, but Zoe seemed to understand both of them took positions on either side of the monster. They each took a arrow out of their quivers, Zoe's silver and Lee's gold, and aimed it across the monster. Letting ago the arrows flew across and shot deep into the sand, but they left something behind, a thin wire the same color as the arrows. They grabbed the wire and waited.

"One, two, three, tug!" Zoe screamed, and they pulled down hard on the wires. It didn't look as if the monster would be affected but to my surprise the string cut straight through the rock and the rhino became a disassembled statue. Beckendorf had finished off his monster at the same time they had; all of the stone beasts were gone. Silence fell across the battle field.

Then everyone erupted into choruses of cheers and minor fits of laughter.

"We did it! We beat them! Yes!" Beckendorf screamed. Suddenly the soon started shine brighter than before and we all looked up, shielding our eyes. I don't know if it was just me, but I'm pretty sure I could see someone on a golden chariot. Apollo!

"RUN!" Nico yelled, and we all started to scatter. I grabbed Annabeth's hand and started running, but she pulled me back.

"Percy, wait, look!" She was pointing to Lee who hadn't moved and was staring up at his father. There was something wrong with him, but I couldn't tell. He reached for his quiver and pulled out a pure golden arrow. I'm pretty sure this one wasn't going to be trailing a wire behind it. He notched his arrow and aimed it towards the sun, straight at . . . Apollo!

"Lee, stop!" Zoe screamed.

"What is he doing?" Clarisse yelled. Luke ran straight at Lee and tackled him to the ground before he could even have a chance to take his fingers off the bow. We all averted our eyes as Apollo disappeared blast of heat and sunlight. We all gathered around Lee.

"Luke, would you get off me!" He shouted.

"Don't yell at him, he had every right to tackle you! What the hell were you thinking?" Katie shouted.

"We're trying to show our parents that we don't want to harm them in any way, shape, or form and you just tried to shoot and arrow at your own dad!" Silena exclaimed.

"Calm down, will you? I wasn't trying to shoot at my dad, I was trying to shoot down the guy behind him." He said.

"There was no one behind him, Lee." Annabeth said.

"Yes, there was. You couldn't see him?"

"Not everyone can look up at the sky and not be blinded by the sun." I said.

"Well, I saw someone there, and he was aiming an arrow at my dad's back. So I was going to hit him." Lee explained "Anyone going to believe me?"

"I was almost killed by Annabeth's sister. So, I'm going to say I believe you." Silena said.

"But that was my sister, trying to kill you. Who would try to kill Apollo?" Annabeth questioned.

"Maybe it was one of my brothers." Lee offered.

"But why would one of your brothers try to kill your own father. They should be trying to kill you." She said, pointing to Lee.

"What if they were trying to kill Lee and Apollo actually knew they were there." Pollux said.

"That sounds just about right." Annabeth said, her eyebrows scrunching together, as if she was trying to force herself to believe it. His expression matched Annabeth's, he didn't believe it either.

"I'm sure he was aiming at our dad though . . .you're probably right, Pollux. I guess the heat is just getting to me."

"Everyone look!" Sammie yelled, and we all turned our heads in the direction she was pointing. Out in the distance, maybe four or five miles away, was a building. It looked small from here, but I could tell if you got close to it, it would be one of the biggest buildings you would ever see. It could only be one thing.

"The Library of Alexander the Great."


	22. Character Ages

Not an actual chapter. I made this a long time on the other site and I thought I should put it here because my ages are a little different than if we were going exactly by the book.

Here are the ages! :)

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><p>Percy Jackson ~ SECRETS Clear up<p>

Ok, so this isn't an actual chapter I was thinking and I don't want any "there to young" comments from future commenter's.

OK, so this is basically the ages:

Jessica(my character): 16

Nico: I've been thinking and I thought he was 14 in the Last Olympian and it's been two years since then in my book so he is 16.

Percy: 18

Annabeth: 18

Luke: Ok I don't like the whole idea of look being over 21. So, he is 19.

Thalia: Since she isn't a hunter anymore, 19.

Zoe Nightshade: 14, still a hunter, but she looks a lot older than 14.

Silena: I think...18?

Beckendorf: In the last book he said he was going to college the next year and it's been two years since then. So, 20?

My guesstamations:

Clarisse: 17

Katie: 17

Pollux: 17

Lee: 17


	23. Chapter 21

They're almost to the Library of Alexandria! Whoo! And I finished Chapter 24! Adfghjkl, yay! Thanks for reading and please, please review! Reviews motivate me to upload these chapters! Thank you again!

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><p>Percy Jackson – SECRETS – Chap. 21<p>

Percy:

"Percy." Annabeth spoke softly, breaking the silence.

"Yes." I answered, cracking my eyelids open, and stretching my hands across the Egyptian sand. The glow and warmth of the fire had dimmed, and I felt Annabeth shifting until her head was on my chest. Reflexively, I put my arm around her, trying to keep her warm. Surprisingly, Egypt can get really cold at night. We had decided to walk a few miles closer to the library, and when it seemed to be a good two miles away, everyone dropped their stuff and we knew we weren't going any further. Tomorrow we'd go the library, hopefully.

At the moment, everybody was asleep, except me and Annabeth, of course.

"Can I ask you a question?" She asked.

"Sure." Why would she even ask that? She could ask me anything.

"Could I ask you a few questions?"

"Of course."

"No, no. It's too late, we should get some rest."

"It's not like you to hold back," I said, smiling a little. "Go ahead, you can ask me anything."

"Some of them are a little personal."

"Go ahead." I kissed her on the forehead, trying to reassure her.

"Alright. I was just wondering . . . I have more questions about this whole Cursed One, Heir thing. You said you know most of what is going on right? I would have read up about it, but I didn't have time, I was only in that castle for one day." Annabeth explained, sucking in a big breath afterwards.

"Okay. Fire away."

"Kronos talks to you too, right?" She asked. My jaw tightened.

"He speaks to you too?" I asked, and I can feel her nodding against my chest. "Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

"Because a few months ago I heard you, Thalia, and Nico talking to Chiron about him and if you guys got answers than I would speak up. But no one ever believed you. You can't blame me for laying low." She explained, and I sighed.

"You're right."

"Why did you keep Jason a secret for a while?"

"He is Roman, we didn't know how you all would react to him."

"How deep does this curse go?"

"It stays with you; it usually works best with people who are a lot like their parents. Unfortunately, we are just that."

"But if that's true than what happens when—" Annabeth gasped, and sat up. I heaved my body forward and looked at what had happened. She was holding her left arm out. There was something glowing, right next to the crease of her elbow. It was a circle, and inside of it was the head of an owl. The mark glowed white and silver, illuminating her face. It stayed like that for awhile, than after a minute or two, it slowly faded. The indentation of the owl was still visible.

"I was wondering what yours would look like." I whispered, resting my chin on her shoulder.

"My what?" She asked, glancing over at me.

"Your scar. Some call them tattoos; I call it a scar, because that's what I think it is." I said, than I had a thought. Hesitating, I asked. "Wanna' see mine?"

Annabeth's eyes widened a little, but she nodded. I pulled away and took off my shirt. The cut on my ribs had healed, and was barely visible, just like my scar. During the night, you wouldn't have been able to see it, but all I had to do was summon the sea to the smallest extent, and I knew it was glowing when I felt Annabeth's finger tracing the outline. She pulled her hand away, and I was going to put my shirt back on, but I felt something touch my back. It was her . . . lips.

"A-Annabeth?" I asked warily.

"Yes." She answered almost inaudibly.

"Why did you kiss my scar?"

"Because it looks like it hurt a lot more than mine did." I put my shirt back on, and turned around to look at her. That curious look was in her eyes again. "What did it feel like? When you became an heir?"

"Uh . . ." I became quiet, but remembered that she said some of the questions were personal, and I did say I would answer them. "Well, I don't really know how to describe it."

"You don't have to answer this question, Seaweed Brain. Don't worry about it." She kissed me on the cheek, and lied back down.

"No, I do want to answer it, but I just don't know how to." I answered, lying down next to her.

"Try your best then." She said.

"Okay, well, I don't really. Alright, let's just start with for example Jason and Thalia. They felt, like, they felt like bolts of electricity were running through them. Cracking every single bone they had, and then the bones would reform." I felt Annabeth cringe against me. "And then Katie, she felt like she was caught at the bottom of a landslide. Tons and tons of rocks just piling on her, until she couldn't breathe anymore." More cringing. "Sammie, I don't know what she felt, probably the same thing Nico did."

"What did Nico feel?"

"Burning, continuous flames, everywhere." Annabeth took a shaky breath.

"And-and you?"

"Compared to everyone else, it wasn't pain. Well not a physical pain I guess. Everything was pushing down on me, whatever everything was. It was holding me down on the ground, surrounding me, enclosing me in darkness. There was nothing but silence. It was like I was at the bottom of the ocean, but I had lost all my abilities. I was completely alone. I remember tears, and screaming, screaming for someone, anyone to just tell me they were there. It was one of the worst feelings. Worse than the Styx." Silence.

Annabeth shifted next to me and the next thing I know her lips were on mine. When she pulled she looked me in the eyes. "Don't ever say you're alone. Ever. You'll always have me. Even if we end up hating each other just like our parents because of this stupid curse, I'll still stand by your side. You'll never be alone, because I'll always be there. Okay?"

"Alright, alright." I held her hands in mine. "Don't worry, I'm fine now, see? I'm completely okay. Are you okay, Owl Eyes? You really don't seem yourself lately." We locked eyes, and I cupped her face with one hand. She leaned into my palm and closed her eyes, sighing deeply.

"I think it's just the stress." She said, putting her hand against mine. "I feel like the entire world is out to get us."

"Not the entire world, just the entire world of everything and anything Greek." I said, getting a punch on the arm. We both laughed.

"Sometimes you can so annoying." She said, then gave a yawn.

"I know, but I will have to continue to be annoying tomorrow, you're exhausted." I pulled her back down on to my shoulder, hoping she would get some rest. It was quiet for awhile, and the only thing that could be heard was the quiet crackling of the fire. Her breathes evened out, and my eyelids were getting heavy, when she spoke up one last time.

"Percy. How close are you to Jason and Nico?"

"That's easy, how close are you to Luke or Beckendorf?" I asked.

"Well, that's simple, I love them." She said groggily.

"How much do you love them?"

"I love them as much as a sister would love her—"

"Brother. I love Nico and Jason like brothers." Why did I just say that? What if an Olympian was possibly listening? I mean, we'd sense them, but still? Either way, it seemed to be satisfactory for her, because after that there were no more questions, and her breathes became even once again. My eyelids started to close again too, but, of course . . .

"I heard that." Nico said from somewhere, probably across the camp fire. I groaned. "So, you love me like a brother. I'm touched." I could tell he was grinning.

"Hey, Nico."

"What?"

"Shut up." We both laughed, then my eyelids closed for good.

Someplace Somewhere:

The Oracle lay on the floor, completely unreadable. Her green t-shirt, and pain splattered pajama pants were ripped in various place. There was a big bruise on her right arm, and her red hair was in a tangled mess around her face. It seems she had gotten into a fight, for what? Who knows.

"Thomas, I swear, I'm going to skin you alive. How could you do this?" Theia screamed, looking into the still bright green eyes of the Oracle, they hadn't changed back yet.

"Well at least we know where the brats are now, and we know what they're up to." Thomas, a Son of Dionysus, answered.

"I agree. We can go kill them off now." Orpheus said, quiver still strapped to his back. He had been so mad at himself. He aimed that arrow so well, so perfect, but his brother had seen him!

"Aren't you supposed to protect the Oracle?" Theia sneered. Orpheus considered this.

"Yes," He said. "But she isn't dead, she's in a trance, it'll ware off."

"Uh, you're terrible."

"Thank you."

"Would you two both shut up? I can't take this bickering." Aglaia said. She had silky black hair, and striking blue eyes that could nothing else, but that she was a Daughter of Zeus. Everyone was quiet, than Triton walked in.

"Did you find out where they are?" He nodded at Thomas. Thomas nodded, finger tracing the top of a wine glass.

"Well?" Triton nodded towards Perseus, although he knew what was going to happen.

"Let's go drain the life out of those toddlers." Some smirked, some full out smiled, and some stayed emotionless. What no one noticed though was a single tear rolling down the redhead's cheek. She could hear everything they said.

Hurry up, Rachel thought. Percy, hurry up, your life depends on it. Yours and your fathers.


	24. Chapter 22

Hi! I'm sorry that it's been so long! I've been really busy! And, once again, it's because of school. ;_; I'm seriously just trying to get through this year. There is so much work.

Anyway, here is the next chapter. Thanks for reading! :)

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><p>Percy Jackson – SECRETS – Chap. 22<p>

Percy:

The structure looked like bunch of buildings stuck together. Like, it was a bunch of building styles of different nationalities stuck together. The only kind I recognized was the front of the building which eerily resembled the Parthenon in Greece, that and the slender posts at the far back of the building that reached towards the sky. I didn't know what they were called, but they were those gigantic pointy things that the top of castles. You could almost see the wave of energy it emitted; it gleamed like a rainbow. I'm not going to lie, it was one of the coolest libraries I have ever seen and . . . none of us even dared to put a foot on one of the steps.

"Well, Luke, you do the honors." Lee said, pushing him forward.

"Oh, aren't you lovely." Luke said, trying to look angered but failing to hide the smirk on his face.

"I know I am." Lee said grinning.

"Aren't you such ladies' man, SunnyD." Luke laughed, and Clarisse snorted.

"You know I hate being called that," Lee said, a hint of whininess in his voice. "Speedracer."

"Oh, you did not just go there!" Luke said, purposely exaggerating things. Lee and Luke started pretending to argue, making others chuckle and some laugh.

"Is this really the moment to be fooling around?" Katie spoke up and everyone became quiet. "Anyway, Luke go ahead."

"Whoa, whoa, wait." Luke said seriously. "You're serious? Why me?"

"Because you've been here before." Katie said simply.

"But-I-fine." Luke said. He walked up the steps carefully. We watched as he stepped onto the top platform and disappeared from our view. After a few moments, a loud banging sounded, echoing against the stone pillars. Than Luke reappeared at the top. "It's safe! But . . . I can't pick this lock, that's a first for me! I think it may need to be broken off. Beckendorf, I could use some help! Come on up!"

We all pounded up the stone steps and came face to face with an intricate, wooden door. There were detailed metal veins running down it and crossing over each other. I looked down to see Beckendorf and Luke talking quickly about gears and locks. They hesitated and looked at each other, than lifted their heads towards us.

"What's wrong?" Pollux asked.

"Nothing, it's just . . ." Luke trailed off.

"Is it not possible to break? 'Cause I'm pretty sure I can find us another way into this place." Zoe asked, eyeing the roof.

"No, we can open it. We just have to . . ." Luke said, trailing off again.

"Have to what?" Clarisse asked.

"Oh, forget it." Beckendorf said. He drew an invisible letter on the back of the lock with his finger. It was outlined in embers for a moment, and then went out. Stepping aside, he let Luke take over. He looked at the lock again and held his palm out to Beckendorf. Beckendorf reached into his back pocket and produced something that looked like a metal toothpick. "How did you know I had—"

"You're really gonna ask that question?" Luke said and Beckendorf sighed. There was only silence and clanking as Luke tried to pick the lock and everyone stepped forward when they heard a small click.

"You did it!" Silena yelled.

"Oh, look, it's their own personal cheerleader." Zoe snorted.

"Oh, please." Silena said. "Don't tell me you're not happy."

"How'd you guys do that?" I asked.

"Well, I used my old-fashioned thieving skills, but Beckendorf . . ." Luke said.

"There was a spell on there and I had to use my Dad's—" Beckendorf started.

"Oh." I said.

"Yeah." He said quietly. There was an awkward silence.

"Welllll," Annabeth spoke, trying to get people in a good mood. "We can go in now. Let's see what's inside." I looked at Annabeth and I couldn't help but smile. There was that old, curious look in her eyes. She wanted to be considerate, that much was easy to tell, but the other half of her brain was telling her to see what was behind those doors.

"Someone looks a little happy." I chuckled. She stepped over and punched me.

"He came be so annoying sometimes, can't he Annabeth?" Nico asked, going over to the doors. Annabeth turned bright red and spun around.

"Nico! You were awa—" Annabeth gasped.

"Oh, yes, I was." Nico said, grinning. I rolled my eyes, knowing that if I looked at Nico I'd be sure to start cracking up. Instead of looking at Nico, I looked at Jason, and noticed he was trying not to laugh.

"He told you!" I said, pointing Jason out. Jason nodded, tiny laughs escaping his mouth.

"You guys are taking so long, I mean come on." Clarisse said, pushing through us all and kicking the doors open. She stepped through first; just like she had at the sand wall and one by one we followed, again.

The doors closed behind us and we were enclosed in darkness. A little glowing orb of what looked like sunshine appeared.

"Lee?" I heard Thalia say.

"Yes, it's me. I'm just looking for a light switch." Lee said, walking back towards the door and running his hand against the wall.

"You're going to find a light switch? In a centuries old museum? You've got to be kidding, Lee. Where is your common sense?" Zoe said and I could just imagine her with her fingers on the bridge of her nose and a look of complete annoyance on her face. If only I could be able to see it for real.

"Come on, Zoe. You'll never get anywhere, if you always doubt everything." Lee said and suddenly there was light. I looked up to see gigantic chandeliers light up and to the sides of be lamps and tiny desk lights were flickering on. Once the lights were on, there was something I couldn't help but notice.

BOOKS.

Small books, big books, thin books, thick books, old books, new books (Strange?), books with broken bindings, books with papers sticking out of them, old-fashioned parchment rolls, and racks of hanging newspapers. And all of this was held on bookshelves. Some were built into the wall, others stood tall by themselves in straight lines. The aisles were big enough for there to be tables, chairs, and sofas set out in perfect formations. Rug lay underneath everything and were the rug stopped, tile started, making intersections and pathways through the library, as if it was a city.

"Now, if all libraries were like this, I'd spend more time near them. Might even go in a few." Clarisse said.

"Luke, you said this place was filled with traps." Thalia said, sighing.

"Yes, I did." Luke answered.

"Well?" Thalia asked. To answer this, Luke looked down at the tile and as if it was yesterday, he walked over to a random tile and stepped on it. It did, indeed, lower down. Everyone stood still and waited, but nothing happened.

"I guess the traps aren't charmed to reset themselves and since no one is around to reset them so . . . we're safe?" Sammie asked.

"I-I guess." Luke hesitated.

"Well, you were right about one thing. The place is beautiful, but there is too much dust. I can't work like this." Annabeth said, waving her hand in front of her face. She was right there was dust everywhere, a thick layer of it. She coughed and waved her hand again. "Can't these books just clean themselves?"

Suddenly, wind whirled and the room glowed and before I knew it we were all standing in a perfect, polished, clean library. Annabeth turned around and looked at all of us with a sheepish smile spread across her face. "Sorry, that one was all me. Oops."

"I personally don't care," Clarisse said, plopping down on one of the nearby sofas. "Especially after that sandstorm, I'd like to breathe clean air."

"Alright, what are we looking for?" Thalia asked, looking at Annabeth.

"Well, libraries usually have sections for different things. You know, if any of you ever tried being in one long enough to notice." Annabeth said, smirking.

"Ha ha. Good one, Annabeth, good one." Luke said sarcastically. We kept looking at her, waiting. She gave up soon enough.

"Fine, the first thing we have to do is find the section, the Greeks. So, we should split up." Annabeth instructed.

"Split up?" Luke asked, looking worried.

"Don't even start, and to make you feel better I'll go with you." Thalia said, grabbing Luke's hand and leading down one pathway. He looked at us as they walked, than sighed and turned his attention to Thalia.

"Alright, I'll go with Jason." Nico said and they walked away.

"I'm gonna' keep this little Ball of Sunshine under control." Zoe said. She and Lee walked along side each other down a row of books until they were out of site.

"Rest of you just disperse into two's or three's. We have a lot of ground to cover." Annabeth said and she started to walk down another pathway. I, obviously, followed.

Annabeth:

I walked down yet another row of books, digging deeper and deeper into the library. As I walked I was glancing at all the books and quickly picked one out. Flipping through the pages, I looked at the information.

"This one's related to India." I said, closing the book and throwing it in the air. An invisible force carried the book back to its section and set it down on the shelf. Invisible servant's maybe?

"Well, India isn't that far away from Greece, maybe we're getting close?" Percy offered, trying to be helpful. I turned my head and found him staring at me. "Don't beat yourself up, Annabeth."

"I know," I whined. "But it's been fifteen minutes and I still haven't found anything." Fifteen minutes! It's never taken me so long before; there was just so much information.

"Don't worry, Wise girl. We'll find it." He said, much calmer than I was at the moment.

"Oh, we'll find it, you can trust me on tha—" My foot caught on something and before I knew it my face was on the floor tile. "Ow."

"Are you okay, Annabeth?" Percy asked, laughing a little as he picked me up.

"Yes, I'm fine." I said and then pushed him away playfully. "And stop laughing." I glanced down to see what had tripped me and it was the base of a pillar. Looking back up, I realized that the pillar belonged to an entrance. Two pillars held up a triangle piece of granite, this opened up to another gigantic room. Written on top of the triangle was none other than:

Ελλάδα

Which of course in my head that translated into:

Greece

"Here it is." Percy said quietly. It felt like the world had grown completely silent and we just stood there staring, than I turned around and screamed at the top of my lungs.

"WE FOUND IT!"


	25. Chapter 23

Okay, I was re-reading some stuff and I realized that there are some wholes between this chapter and the last one. So, basically when they found it they gathered outside the entrance to the Greek section. And than they split up inside the entire Greek section and then, well the story goes on from there . . .

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><p>Percy Jackson – SECRETS – Chap. 24<p>

Annabeth:

"There it is!" I yelled, looking through an archway at the book on the pedestal. We had split up before, in hopes that we'd find the book quicker. And here it was, right in front of us. I ran into the circular room and noticed that the pedestal was on a raised landing. Walking up the few steps, I got a closer look at the book. It gleamed gold and intricate, silver swirls lay on the cover, stretching out over the spine and all the way to the back of the book. "It's . . . it's amazing."

"I bet it is, but if you be so kind as to look inside it and get the information. We're on a tight schedule." Zoe said and everyone looked at her. She stared back, "What?"

"Nothing," Thalia said. "Annabeth how long do you think it's going to take you to find the answer to our problem? That book is huge." And she was right; the book was huge, one of the biggest ones I've ever seen.

"10, 15 minutes. If it has a glossary." I said. "You better call everyone back here, we should all be together for this. From behind me I heard Zoe call out, her voice echoing through the almost empty halls. I took a deep breath and opened the book.

Katie:

I let my hand slide across another row of books and sighed deeply. My mind had wandered back to that man again. Who was he and what did Jess have to do with him? I glance over at one of the sitting areas. Jess was lounging on a couch and reading an old scroll about who knows what. I strode over and sat on the chair next to her. I kept like that for a few moments, trying to figure out what to say, but ended up just with everything just tumbling out of my mouth.

"Jess, who was that guy and why was he trying to hurt you and why does he remind me of Nico?" I said quickly, slapping my hand over my mouth once it was done. Almost immediately I heard Jess's breath catch in her throat and she became very still. I didn't even try to touch her, I just waited. Why did I ask? After awhile she rolled up the scroll and looked at me.

Taking a deep breath she looked at me and spoke up, "That man is Nico's eldest brothers."

"Oh, well I guess I have no reason to worry." I said sarcastically and stood up. I started walking back down the aisle of books and began to look for a particular Son of Hades. Of course, Jess could tell what I was up to and ran in front of me.

"You are not saying one word of this to anyone." Jess said.

"But—"

"No."

"But you're my sister," I said, walking around her. "I have to protect you, it's my job."

"Yes," She said, walking with me. "I am your sister and I know if you were my sister you'd keep this a secret." I looked at her. Then she gave me that puppy dog look and added, "Please?"

I sighed and looked at her sympathetically, "Fine."

"Thank you." She said and hugged me. I hugged her back, how could I not. Somewhere off in the distance Zoe called out and we both looked at each other. Annabeth found the book. We started running in the direction of Zoe's voice.

Annabeth:

This. Book. Is. Impossible. Fifteen minutes I had been searching it and it had a glossary! For some reason I couldn't find it. The thing was, it wasn't the book that didn't make sense. It was the information inside it. It didn't connect to our situation in any way. Someone walked up behind me and put their hand on my shoulder.

"How's it going?" Percy asked.

I chuckled and looked up at him, "Just perfect."

"Anything wrong?" He said, looking at the book. I ran my hand along the binding and sighed.

"It looks like a fake on the inside, but it doesn't feel that way. Can't you sense the power that's coming from it?" I asked and he nodded.

"Anyone know what I could possibly do to get information out of this thing?" I asked everyone. They were all scattered around the room looking at books or scrolls.

"I don't know, but look at this stuff. It's all about famous demi-gods, them and the other known ones. What do they have to do with this?" Clarisse asked, rummaging through another shelf.

"There were probably cursed ones before us. It wouldn't surprise me." I answered Clarisse absentmindedly.

"Maybe you should try talking to it," Lee offered. "That always seems to work in the movies."

"I don't think that's going to work here, Lee." Thalia said.

"Actually," I said, mind calculating. "It might."

"You've got to be kidding." Zoe said, the strangest look on her face.

"No, no. It actually might really work. I just have to say something to open the book." I said happily. I was so close to figuring this out. So, so close.

"That could take forever," Clarisse whined. "Can't you just tell it you're a demi-goddess and that will gain you secrets access or something?" Click.

"Clarisse! Thank you!" I yelled, smiling wide. Everyone stepped closer, curious to know what I had figured out.

"What? I was right? Come on, it has to be harder than that." Clarisse said, crossing her arms on her chest.

"No, it's not. Here Percy, could you step down?" I asked, and he backed down the steps. I turned around and faced the book. My hand hovered about the cover. "I am Annabeth Chase, Daughter and Cursed One of Athena. And I command you to show yourself."

Wind whirled and I shut my eyes tight. I could feel the book heat up underneath my palm and once everything died down I cracked my eyes open slowly. Taking the cover and opening the book, I smiled to myself. "It worked."

"You've been looking at that book for hours." Clarisse said, still whining.

"It's not as easy as it looks." I said, gritting my teeth.

"Whatever." She muttered, and collapsed on the floor, leaning against a wall.

I kept flipping through pages, looking for keywords, anything that would be a hint to the information we needed. Flip, flip, flip, scan, flip, flip, scan, scan, flip, flip, flip, almost rip page out from frustration, flip, flip—wait.

"Gotch'ya!" I screamed at the book as if it was an energetic puppy that I had been chasing.

"You found it?" Silena asked.

"Yes, I'm sure of it." I said and started to read aloud. "Heirs have always tried to get rid of what they have been given. Many have tried, many have failed, none have succeeded."

"Isn't that just loooovely."Luke interrupted before Annabeth shot him a look that silenced him instantly.

"They have failed not because they weren't brave enough or courageous enough, but because the task of removing the curse is dangerous. The only way to remove this curse is to have God or Goddess remove it themselves and our lords and ladies waste no time in eliminating any threats they may have. Their heirs never have enough time to explain." There was silence.

"Annie, is there—" I stopped Thalia before she could even finish a sentence.

"Let me read." I said calmly. "Heirs could always become the god or goddesses second in command or they could be given immortality and become a minor god. The only other option is to kill the one that they are stealing the power from and gain their position. Of course there are only a few select people who would want to do this and those are the people who want to see the Gods' perish."

"Annabeth I don't think that part concerns us." Percy tried to say, but instinctively I turned the page and kept reading.

"These people are the heirs who purposely take the curse upon them. These heirs only goal is to see the God's destroyed and there has only ever been on line of them. Every line of heirs after this league has tried to warn their parents, but is always either killed off by the league or their parent's hand. The lines of heirs that warn their parents try to protect them. These are the cursed ones that see past their parent's facade. The one league died before they could kill the Olympians and no one knows who they are to this day." I couldn't speak anymore, I couldn't move, I just kept staring at the book.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Clarisse asked. "I mean, we want to protect our parents. So, what? Are these people going to stop us? How are they supposed to stop us if they're dead?"

My head began pounding and a knot started to form in my stomach. Images were flashing before my eyes and voices were sounding inside my head. I could sense my eyes fluttering and Percy shaking me but nothing could wake me from this trance. But it didn't feel like a spell, it was like when all of that information was pouring in my head, but this time it hurt less. Stop it, Annabeth, gain some control. I said to myself. Trying to stop the flying pictures in my mind, I started to make out faces.

There was a picture of the sister that had tried to kill Silena. Lee's voice came front and center in my head, "Calm down, will you? I wasn't trying to shoot my dad; I was trying to shoot the guy behind him." For a horrible second I relived the scene when Triton kidnapped Percy. They were all trying to hurt us, or at least that's what it seemed to be. Suddenly, everything stopped; everything instantly reorganized itself. I took a deep breath and opened my eyes. Thankfully, I was still standing, but Percy had his hands close to my sides, as if I was about to fall and Lee was checking my temperature.

When Lee saw my eyes open he gave a smile, "You're alright."

"Yes and you're not crazy." I said.

"What?" He asked, confused.

"Seems like one of your immortal brothers is trying to kill your father." I said simply.

"I knew it!" Lee yelled.

"Wait, so, our siblings are trying to kill our parents?" Silena screamed.

"She just said that." Zoe rolled her eyes.

"But wait," Lee said. "I don't have many immortal brothers and I don't think a lot of them would want to kill my dad. Which one is it?"

"That's just the thing. If you think about it in a whole . . . our parents were scared and could tell we were powerful together. The book said that the league that tried to kill the Olympians died. I think some of them slowly came back after time, some actually never died, and others . . . I think our parents brought them back." I explained, awkwardly. A lot of blank stares looked back at me.

"Like, right now?" Silena asked. I nodded.

"But then we still don't know which one of our siblings is also an heir." Thalia said.

"Think about it, which one of your siblings from the past would have made a good heir. Which ones are immortal? Which ones died? Who do you think your parents would bring back to help kill us? Narrow it down." I explained.

"So, that means . . ." Nico began.

"Tritons trying to kill my Dad!" Percy exploded. He stomped down the steps, the tile cracking under his feet, but as soon as he was about to walk back through the archway, Nico tackled him.

"Yes, he is." Nico said, while trying to restrain Percy. "But that doesn't mean you can go out there and hunt him down with half the world wanting to see you dead."

It was strange seeing the two of them struggle. They were best friends as far as I knew, but now it was just very . . . weird. Nico was being so protective, even though Percy was older than him. Something at the back of my head told me something should be making sense, but nothing changed. I sighed and watched as Percy quit struggling and started breathing normally again.

"Get off me." Percy said quietly.

"Not going to run off?" Nico asked, standing up and pulling Percy a long with him.

"No," Percy answered and then he became very fierce again, almost scary. "But I swear Nico, my brother is going to die if he tried to murder my Father. I don't care who does it, but he will die."

"Same goes for my brother." Nico said sadly, as if he was calculating various scenes and chances in his head. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed Jessica looking very guilty, I made no attempt to address it though.

"Well, I say we grab the book and get back to the mansion." Katie concluded. What?

"We can't just take a book with loads of priceless information from its library!" I said, back to my nerdy, Athena childness.

"We'll bring it back." Katie said. "Look, I'm tired and hungry."

"She needs some wheat in her system." Luke said and Nico chuckled loudly. Katie kicked Nico in the shin, but everyone saw the smile on her face.

"I didn't even say anything!" Nico laughed.

"Oops, my mistake." Katie said, laughing along. Before a happy atmosphere could even appear, a gigantic explosion sounded somewhere in the library. The noises echoed off the walls making it even louder and many of us covered our ears.

"What was that?" Pollux asked, once the noise had died down.

"I don't know." I said.

"Oh no," Beckendorf cried, clearly exhausted. "Here we go, booby traps. Come on, Luke, let's start disarming these things one at a time."

"I don't think those are traps." Nico said. "Anybody seen Jason?"

For the first time, I noticed that the Jason wasn't with us. Zoe answered, "No, he hasn't been around."

"Uh oh." Nico said, suddenly going very pale.

"Nico, what do you mean by uh oh?" Thalia asked slowly and very calmly as if she was trying to keep herself from screaming.

"Well, I was with Jason when Zoe called and he wanted to look around more," Nico said. "So, I thought he'd be okay and I left him. I mean, for God's sake he's a strong demi-god and he's cursed. Can't he keep himself safe?"

"That's alright, if it's just another monster I'm sure—" Thalia was cut off. There was another explosion and a scream for help.

"He's in trouble!" Thalia yelled, running for the hallway, but Percy grabbed her back. Thalia elbowed Percy in the chest and broke free. "What the Hades, Percy?"

"Don't yell at me! I don't think those are monsters out there." He yelled.

"Which is an even better reason why we should go help him." I said and everyone turned their heads towards me.

"What?" Clarisse asked.

"You know how our parents brought back our siblings to kill us?" I asked.

Clarisse rolled her eyes and snorted, "No, 'cause we haven't been listening to you for the past thirty minutes."

"Oh, haha, you're so funny." I said sarcastically.

"ANYWAY." Silena said loudly.

"Anyway, I think they found us and Jason's probably fighting one of them right now. Most likely his brother." I said.

"Now we're going." Thalia said walking away.

"Wait, which one of your brothers is it Thalia?" Nico asked.

"I don't know." Thalia said. Suddenly her bracelet glowed and Aegis materialized at her side. The next second she was holding a spear in the other hand. "But I do know that I'm going to help Jason kick his ass."

"I think I know what brother it is," Percy said and everyone turned towards him. "And I've got his name."

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><p>Also, if you any of you are confused about what Annabeth read from the textbook, I'll gladly explain. I'm not the best at explaining things and on my DevART account people have commented that they are a bit confused. Sometimes I get a little confused myself. I'm sorry if I did confuse anyone. ^^"<p>

Thanks for reading!


	26. Chapter 24

_I'm so sorry! _I'm so, so sorry that I haven't uploaded the next chapter! I have been so inactive! Asdfghjkl! I just don't have the time, but after this week I will FINALLY have some. This week I'm in the school play so there is a lot today and then it's spring break and I have nothing! Woohoo! :D

Here is the next chapter! Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy! :)

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><p>Percy Jackson – SECRETS – Chap. 24<p>

Someplace Somewhere:

Rachel was somewhat aware of the things taking place around her. Her eyes drooped and she could see only lights and shadows. She lay on an elevated cot, something you'd see in the infirmary back at camp, and she could tell people were working around her. They removed her clothes, leaving her undergarments, and one of the figures picked up something next to her.

If they plan on drugging me, the oracle thought to herself. But the red head's assumptions were quickly diminished when the shadows lifted her body, as if she was a rag doll, and slipped something over her head. The material was soft and slipped across her skin like silk. There was a tugging at her back and the _zzzzz _of a zipper being pulled upward. She was laid back down on the cot and she felt something glide along her cheek.

No makeup, she thought and could only muster a small grunt.

"I'm sorry, Miss Dare." Someone said. "I am being forced to do this."

The brush on her cheek resumed its job and she inwardly sighed, unable to do anything else, as they applied the blush. Next came the lips, and the eye shadow, and the mascara, and the eye liner. By the end of it all, Rachel was so irritated she felt as if she could take on a pack of hellhounds all by herself. They primped and tweaked her from head to toe and the last thing they did was lift her feet and slip on a pair of shoes. Once that was done, the people's presence disappeared and the Oracle could hear a door shut. She was alone again.

Thalia:

I ran down the halls of the library, always bolting different ways and taking sudden turns, trying to find where the battle was. The sounds echoed off the walls, making my head spin. Everyone had followed when I ran but as my adrenaline pushed me fast they had fallen back and I was alone. My brother was fighting Perseus. It had to be Perseus, that's Percy's name. But it Jason was fighting him . . . how could he stand a chance? Especially when Perseus is an heir, who wants to not only kill my dad but my brother to.

As another explosion sounded my train of thought disappeared and I was brought back to my surroundings. All around me where fallen bookcase, cracks in the floor, and broken pillars, which left piles of rubble. I needed to get to Jason now and instinctively I did the first thing that came to mind.

"Jason!" I yelled at the top of my lungs. "Jason! Where are you? Jason!"

There was no answer and I was going too screamed again but then, "Thalia!"

"Jason?" I yelled again.

"Thalia! Thalia, I'm over here." He answered and I took off again, following the sound of his voice. I rounded another bookcase and sudden stopped when I saw someone crumpled on the floor, half covered in rubble. When he saw me I saw him give a weak smile.

"Hi, sis." Jason said as I ran over and knelt beside him.

"Where is he? Where's Perseus?" I asked and began to get the chunks of rock off of him.

"I don't know. Once he heard me call your name he disappeared." He said and once his hand was free, he helped me get rid of the granite. It took a few moments but he was finally able to sit up. "He could be anywhere."

I looked into his eyes and I could tell that we both knew it was a lie. He was still here, he was watching us, and he was waiting. I stood up and looked around.

"Well?" I asked quietly, but then my voice began to rise. "We're both here. Are you going to fight us or not?"

"I would, but I don't think it's fair if I were to fight you. I mean, you are a woman after all." Someone chuckled from the shadows and I took an arrow from my quiver, nothing and aiming it were the voice had come from.

"Oh please, I bet I could kick your ass even when I had just fallen out of that stupid tree." I said, stopping myself from shooting.

"I heard about that. You almost died in battle so dear daddy turned you into a tree." The voice said, stepping out of the shadows. There he was, Perseus. I wasn't going to lie, I was scared and thought of running away but I kept my ground. "Well, are you going to shoot?"

I gulped and let the arrow fly straight at him but before it could reach him, it turned to ashes. Like there was some force field surrounding him. My face stayed completely unreadable as I dropped my bow and drew my sword. A twisted grin formed on his face.

"You are determined, and truth be told all of you are, but I'm sure we could fix that." He said, hand gripping the hilt of the sword hanging at his side.

"We?" I asked and suddenly an explosion sounded somewhere in the library. I looked off, to where I thought it would be coming from, but that was a mistake.

"Thalia, watch out!" Jason screamed. I turned around in time to see my eldest brother slashing his sword towards me. My instincts took over and I leaned back, followed by my hands touching the floor and I awkwardly completing a back flip. Lashing out, our swords collided and I pushed him back to an extent.

"Agile," He commented. "But that won't keep you alive for very long."

"Just shut up!" I yelled. "Who else is here?"

He looked very amused. What an ass. "What? Do you think only I would come to kill all of you?"

"Thalia, we have to get out of here." Jason said.

"I know but how—" My brother slashed at me again and this time I deflected it with lightning. His eyes widened.

"What? But . . . you're not cursed with our father's power." He said, baffled, and I smiled wickedly.

"Oh, I am, but only half." I said.

"Half? Who has the other half?" He screamed and there was the sound of crumbling rocks behind me.

"That would be me." Jason said. I saw Perseus eyes darken and I knew we were in for one heck of a fight.

Percy:

I was barely able to comprehend what was going on, but I forced myself to focus as I was yet thrown into another library shelf, landing with an 'oof.' Looking up to see a figure in front of me, I rolled out of the way in time to avoid the three holes that might have been lodged into my chest. The man cursed in Ancient Greek, trying to pull his weapon out of the granite. By the time he did, I was able to jump up, ready to defend myself.

"Triton," I said. "Nice to see you."

He smiled, "Look, the mighty Hero of Olympus has manners."

"Jealous much?" I asked. Okay, I was being very cocky, but bare with me, he's a jerk too.

"Not at all." He said, swinging at me with that stupid triton of his.

"How'd you find this place anyway?" I asked, deflecting his blow and slashing at him, missing by an inch.

"You're not the only one with a bookworm." He laughed. "They come in handy when you need them."

That set me off. "Don't talk about them like they're just tools!" I screamed, throwing myself at him and successfully kneeing him in the gut. He hit the floor, his triton flying out of his hands and clattering on across the ground. I should have killed him right there, but an explosion sounded nearby and I took off. We had to get out of here, all of us. If we had the God's on our side we could defeat these morons easily. Triton's footsteps sounded behind me and I quickened my pace only to end up stopping short as I came to a clearing were several battles were taking place.

Closest to me was Zoe and she was fighting with another girl. She looked like she had been a hunter once, and even if she hadn't, she sure dressed like one. The girl threw a few kicks and Zoe flew backwards, but steadied herself before she could fall.

"Theia! How dare you try kill our lady!" Zoe screamed, bow in hand.

"Just shut up, you brat." Theia sneered, her arms crossed. "Your precious Lady that you love so much isn't so great. She should've been stuck holding the sky for the rest of her eternal life."

"How dare you!" Zoe said, filled with complete rage. She drew an arrow, took aim, and shot in less than five seconds but Theia dodged it easily.

"You shouldn't shoot with anger. You must clear your mind," Theia teased. "That is what Artemis always said after all."

"Go to Tartarus!" Zoe screeched, pulling out her daggers and charged at the enemy. Theia blocked her strikes, but Zoe was able to land a few cuts before her ex-sister back away and jumped a top a fallen bookcase that was leaning against a wall. "Come here and fight me!"

I had been so distracted by Zoe's fight I hadn't realized Triton was still behind me. I turned around in time to block his triton but I was sent flying backwards. Before I knew, Triton's frame was above me and his foot was pressing down on chest. He flashed me a wicked smile.

"I'm going to enjoy gutting you like a fish." He said, lifting his triton. I thought someone would come, someone would save me, but I was wrong. I think he did it on purpose, aiming his triton the way he did. The weapon came down on my side, the spot that had almost finished healing, only one prong cutting through me skin. I didn't want to scream, but I couldn't help it. He smiled at my cries and right the weapon out of my side. "Oops, I must have misaimed, let me try it again."

He lifted the triton again, but this time someone yelled out. "Get off him!"

A figure tackled triton, pushing him off me and causing them to roll across the floor. There was the sound of struggling and I heard what sounded like a punch. Suddenly, Beckendorf appeared above me, his lip bleeding but other than that he looked fine. He extended his hand and I took it, he pulled me up carefully. My hand grabbed my hand and I yelped, immediately regretting my action.

"Come on, Lee isn't far. He can heal you." Beckendorf said.

"But I thought we were trying not to use our powers." I coughed, tasting blood.

"I don't care. You need help, all of us do." Beckendorf said. There was a loud crash to the side of us and we turned our heads. Silena was fighting with her sister, you could tell it was her sister from the perfect hair and the non-ripped clothes. Of course, Silena looked the same way we did, beaten and a little weary.

"Honestly," Her sister spat. "How could you ever come close to being an heir for mother, you're not worthy of a title like that."

"Our mother isn't all about beauty. You're such horrible, annoying, irritating bitch!" Silena screamed, throwing the dagger that she had in hand at her sister, who dogged it quickly. Her sister was in shock and was just able to get up before the sword that Silena had unsheathed almost cut her in half. I looked back at Beckendorf.

"Whoa." I said.

"That is one of the many reasons why I love her." Beckendorf smiled. "Now, come on, your brother isn't going to stay unconscious forever."

Olympians:

They stood only a mile away from the magnificent building. Even from here the sounds of a battle raging on could be heard. No one spoke, no one moved, they knew what was going on. The only question was, should they intervene? The silence lasted a while longer and if any human had been in range they would have surely been turned into ashes as bright lights set off one after the other.


	27. Chapter 25

Hey, everyone. This so, so late, but I submitted this on devART yesterday. So, I did finish this chapter only a day ago. The reason? All my schoolwork. I know, I know. How can one school give that much work? Trust me, it can. I feel like giving up and failing all my classes on a daily basis. It's so much stress to.

I'm sorry that I submitted this so late and I'm sorry that I just went on a vent like that. I just need someone to talk to.

Alright, so I'm going to try. And I meant TRY to start writing these chapters faster. In school, when I get home, whatever it takes.

I hope you enjoy and thanks for reading!

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><p>Percy Jackson – SECRETS – Chap. 25<p>

Nico:

There were shadows everywhere and almost every second I cut down another skeleton solider. My brother sure did not like to fight for himself. I felt a hand on my shoulder and I whipped around, almost cutting Annabeth in half. Thanks to her battle reflexes, she ducked in time.

"Sorry, Annabeth." I said.

"It's alright," She said. "But we have to get out of here and soon."

"Oh, no kidding." I said, attitude leaking into my voice.

"No need to be rude." She said. A skeleton appeared from the shadows and Annabeth must have seen the warning in my eye because she turned around and slashed him in half. He landed on the ground in a pile of cracked, white bones. "What's going on here? I'm assuming it's not you who's summoning all these skeletons."

"Of course not, it's my brother, Vincenzo. He's insane!" I said, adding extra emphasize to 'insane.'

"Come on, he can't literally be insane." Annabeth said, trying to reason with me.

"Well then he's close to it! My eldest brother is hated by almost all my siblings!" Nico yelled.

"Really? I didn't know that. Can you give them my thanks? I mean, you're going to be dead soon anyway." A voice said from the shadows and Annabeth and I turned to see where it was coming from. There my brother stood, shadows clinging to his legs, skin pale white, and eyes black as midnight.

"You don't look to good, bro. Need a trip to the tanning salon? I'll gladly pay." I smiled, but instead of the dirty look I was expecting he smiled back.

"You've got an attitude and a sense of sarcasm, that's good. Quite rare in Children of Hades, most are so gloomy and bland, gets very boring." He said.

"Oh, shut up and get to the point. Are you gonna fight me or not?" I asked and his black eyes shined bright.

"Honestly, I'd rather defeat you a different way. We can fight another time." My brother said.

"Another time?" Annabeth murmured from behind me. I had to ask her what she was thinking about later, but now it was time to focus on my brother.

"What do you mean defeat me? How can you defeat me any other way besides fighting?" I asked.

"I've noticed that you have a soft spot for any women you're close to." He said and I clenched my fist. "Your mother, your sister."

"So?" I said through gritted teeth. What is he getting at?

"I hope you don't mind, but I just couldn't resist introducing myself to your beautiful girlfriend." He said and snapped his fingers. Jessica was pushed from the shadows, but they still had her in their grip. She was tied at the ankles, knees, and abdomen. She was yelling through the cloth that covered her mouth. Go, was all I could make out. "I won't lie, she did put up a pretty impressive fight."

"Let her go." I said slowly, knuckles turning white.

"And why should I?" He spat, walking over to Jessica and kicking her legs out from under her. Her body fell to the ground and she made no move to get back up. He pointed at her and looked me in the eye. "She is an Heir of Persephone. You are an Heir of Hades. Get it through your head. She is your submissive, she obeys you."

I tried to control my anger, "That's not how it works between Hades and Persephone."

"But that's the way it should be." My brother said. That, that—

"Nico, calm down." Annabeth said, but her voice had no effect on me. My brother looked at Jessica again.

"She is pathetic and needs to learn her place." He stopped to look at me. "And if you don't teach her, I will. It's not like I haven't to an extent already." When he said that Jessica flinched and my anger seemed to disappear for a moment.

"What?" I asked, confused.

"Oh?" He said and leaned down next to Jessica, grabbing her hair and pulling into a sitting position. "She hasn't told you about my little visits? I've talked with her before, of course our talks aren't very friendly, and when I leave she always seems a little more damaged. Isn't that right, my little self-harmer?"

"No." I said, shocked and my brother smiled cruelly. "You're the reason . . .you're the reason she cut herself? The reason she almost died!"

"I didn't think it would matter that much." He said and that's when I broke. My anger slammed back into me, there was the sound of metal clanking, and for a moment, I felt very different. It's felt like power flowing through my arms and my legs, my veins. I didn't know how to explain it, it was so a weird feeling, but I felt stronger than before.

"Nico, calm down! Look at yourself!" Annabeth screamed and I looked down. Instead of the t-shirt I had on before there was armor, shining black armor may I say. It felt perfect, not too small and not to tight, like it was made for me. When I move it shifted with me, letting me move any way I wanted.

"No." My brother snarled, causing me to snap back into focus.

"What's this?" I asked, confused.

_This isn't something I was expecting_. Kronos said.

"Oh, would you just leave us all alone." I said out loud.

"I can't believe this." Vincenzo said.

"Can't believe what? Can someone please tell me what's going on!" I did not have much patience left and I wanted some answers.

"Nico, I'll explain later, we just have to get out of here!" Annabeth yelled and I finally looked at her. Before she could say another word someone jumped from the shadows and rammed into her. They both went flying and disappeared from sight. It must have been her sister.

"I've had enough of you." My brother growled from behind me and I turned in time to be tackled. We rolled across the tile, shadows swirling around us both, and my brother was desperately trying to get his hands around my neck.

"What happened to fighting later?" I taunted, which got me a good punch across the face. That would leave a bruise. He stayed silent, focusing on strangling me, but I easily kicked him off. I ran over to Jess, who was trying to free herself of her bonds. Taking my sword, I cut through them easily.

"Nico, I—" She said, her eyes wide. "I, I can explain—"

"No time now, but you are most definitely going to explain." I said as I helped her up. She drew her sword and looked back towards my brother.

"Let's get out of here."

"Agreed." I started walking steadily in the other direction, with Jess at my side, but our bodies froze when a voice behind us sounded, and this time it sounded even stranger than the last.

"This isn't over."

Percy:

"Percy, hold still."

"Ow. Ah, damnit!"

"I said hold still!" Lee said for the second time, tending to my wounds. He had been able to heal most of the internal injuries and the external injuries, but he said I would need to rest to let it fully heal. Yeah, like that was going to happen. He finished wrapping the gauze around my torso and I sat up. "There all done."

"Thanks."

"No problem." He offered his hand and I took it, needing both his and my strength to get me on my feet. The fighting was still wasn't stopping and the library looked as if a tornado ripped through it. I was surprised that the roof hadn't caved in yet.

"We need to get out of here." I said, looking at the damage.

"I know, but what do we do? Just retreat. We can't do that, especially when we figured out that they're trying to kill our parents." Lee said, pulling an arrow from his quiver and notching it in his bow. "Even if we did retreat, we'd have to get out of here fast, really fast."

I grimaced and drew my sword, "I have a weird feeling that's going to be our only option."

Both of us took off, Lee raising his bow around every corner, and gladly lowering it when we didn't come across any of our enemies. We were about to make yet another turn when two pairs of footsteps sounded, along with many coughs and grunts. Thalia and Jason came running out of an aisle, both of them looking tired and beat. Jason had his arm slung around Thalia to keep her standing, but the way she clung to him it was clear she was supporting him as well.

"Percy! Lee!" Jason cried, happy to see us, and as he got closer I was able to see the various cuts that covered both their bodies. "Lee can you help Thalia, please! I think she's going to pass out. We tried to fight him and we might have won, but our sister jumped in and everything went downhill from there. They don't play fair!"

"Percy," Thalia coughed. "Try to calm him down. I was having the same panic attack a few seconds ago." She detangled herself from her brother and leaned on Lee for support. Being the Son of Apollo he was, Lee immediately began to check injuries.

"Jason," I said, shaking him lightly. "Snap out of it, this isn't a good time to freak out. Jason," I shook him again a little harder; he wouldn't calm down. I looked into his eyes, holding his gaze. "Jason!" After a moment or two his breathing went back to normal and it was almost as if he just realized that I had been grasping his arms, because he jumped back.

"Wh-what's going on? Did I break something again? Why are you giving me that look?" Jason asked, looking down at Thalia and Lee, who were now seated on the floor.

"You, you were," Suddenly a realization hit that froze me to my core. "He was speaking to you wasn't he."

"I hope there is no need for recognition in who 'he' is, but yeah it was him." Jason said, standing there awkwardly. I dropped my head and sighed, but just as quickly picked it up when more footsteps came into ear range. Looking past Jason I saw Luke, running away from I'm guessing was his brother. He turn around for a moment, only to quickly disarm his brother and knock him to the ground. There was no doubting, he might have been in the Underworld for two years, but he was still a great swordsman.

"Percy! We have to get out of here!" Luke yelled, running up to us.

"Oh, why does everyone keep saying that?" I groaned, but unfortunately it was the truth, there was a very slim chance we would be winning at the moment.

"They're down there!" Luke's brother yelled, pointing to us. He stood up, grabbing his sword and looked over to the people that were now standing next to him. "Well?" He asked Triton and Perseus.

"I've had enough of these brats." My brother snarled, starting towards us. I locked eyes with Jason once again, but this time it wasn't to calm either of us down.

"Time to go?" Jason asked.

"Time to go." I said and all of us were running down the hall, heading towards the exit. Thalia did not ask for help and ran by herself, but I could tell she most likely had sprained something. I screamed for everyone to fall back and when I didn't have enough air left, Jason continued for me. In groups of ones and twos everyone slowly joined us. By the time we had reached the door everyone was present except for—

"We're here, we're here!" Nico yelled, running up to us, Jess close behind. The both looked beat, just like the rest of us, but Nico clutching his shoulder as if it was about to fall off. "Perce, let's go. You do NOT want to see my brother right now."

"Nico, are you okay?" I asked.

"Fine." He winced. "It's nothing."

"It's not 'nothing'. He cracked your shoulder." Jessica said, sheathing her sword.

"I hope none of you mind, but I think it would be best if we got the hell out of here!" Zoe screamed, gesturing towards our siblings who were getting closer by the second.

"Wow, Zoe, first time I ever heard you curse." Lee snickered.

"Alright, time to get out of here." Beckendorf said, pushing open the doors. We all ran for our lives, straight towards the stairs, but if Beckendorf hadn't pulled me back I would have fallen down them, because my feet had locked me in place yet again. At the bottom of the stairs, standing in a straight line, were fourteen people. Who were they? You guessed it, our parents.

Without thinking, I searched for my father and accidently looked into his eyes. In that moment I wanted to say I was sorry, I wanted to tell him to be careful, I wanted to scream at him and tell him that he shouldn't trust Triton, but he wanted believe me. I barely registered our siblings running up behind us. Perseus yelled down to our parents and asked what they should do with us. I could feel Beckendorf's grip tighten on my shirt because I seemed to be trying to run down to them.

I could hear Jason scream to Nico, about what I didn't know, but suddenly I was sucked into the shadows. Wind whirled and my eyes shut reflexively. My feet touched sand and I opened my eyes to the sight of a castle. We were back.

"Percy? Percy, you okay?" Beckendorf said, letting go of my shirt.

"Yeah, I'm fine." I said, walking towards the front doors of the castle along with everyone else.

"Well, we can expect something from our siblings soon." Pollux said and I looked over to see him and Clarisse both firmly holding each other's hand as if to make sure neither of them would run. They must have had the same problem I did.

"Don't worry, if they do try something, we'll be ready." Annabeth said, trying to sound confident. Everyone remained silent, all of us beaten both physically and emotionally. It wasn't until we were a good fifteen feet away that someone called out my name.

"Hey Perce." They said, a slight bleat at the back of their throat, and I looked up to see a very familiar furry friend. I didn't need to know he was going to attack us or not, because he would never do that.

"Hey G-man." I smiled and ran up to him, getting ready to give him a good, old-fashioned bone-crushing hug.


	28. Chapter 26

I'm back! I'm alive! I'm finished with Chapter 26! I'm sorry! . . . I'm sorry I haven't been able to write for so long. ;_; Please forgive me, it will never happen again, school is over and done with and I'm going to get back into the groove of updating this story weekly. I have more one shot ideas and I'll be writing them shortly.

This chapter is a little longer than usual because you guys deserved it for waiting so long!

I hope you guys enjoy!

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><p>Percy Jackson – SECRETS – Chap. 26<p>

Percy:

"Nice to see you to." Grover said. "Perce, you're . . . strangling . . . me."

"Oops, sorry." I said, letting go. He looked me up and down and I raised an eyebrow, what was he getting at?

"I see you got stronger." He said at last, trying not to laugh. My eyes went wide and I ducked my head. "I'm just kidding."

"Ah, haha." I laughed sarcastically. "What are you doing here, G-man?"

Suddenly, Grover went unnaturally quiet and looked out to the ocean, as if someone were listening to us. Keeping his on the horizon, he gestured to the front door, "Is it alright if we talk about that inside?"

"Grover don't worry there's a barr—" Lee tried to say, but Grover cut him short.

"I know, but please, let's just go inside." I could hear a slight whimper in his voice. But I trusted Grover and opened the door. Everyone piled into the gigantic (and I mean GIGANTIC, sometimes I forgot how big this place really was) foyer and we gave Grover our full attention.

"Alright," He started. "I'm just going to say, because I have no idea how to put this. Camp has been in complete chaos since you guys disappeared."

"Chaos?" Annabeth screamed.

"Okay, not exactly chaos, but pretty close to it. There aren't trees burning and buildings falling down if that's what you think. More like, stressed out campers and a very worried Chiron." Many of us let out a sigh at the mention of our mentor; of course, he would be worried about us. Never angry, no, _worried._

"Crap." I muttered.

"Oh, and Rachel went missing."

"WHAT?" Katie exclaimed.

"More like kidnapped, at least, that's what Will said."

"KIDNAPPED?" Annabeth screamed, and I could definitely see the outline of a vein on her temple. I strode over to her, putting an arm around her waist.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Calm down, Wise Girl."

"Percy, I don't want to calm down." She said, obviously panicked.

"Well, you're gonna have to, or soon enough that vein's going to burst." Luke commented, trying to lighten the mood, but for once it didn't work. Everyone was quiet, processing what we had just been told, wondering what we could possibly do to fix this mess.

"I don't know about you guys, but I'm injured, hungry, and just plain tired." Clarisse said, disrupting everyone's thought process and already making her way to the infirmary. "I'm going myself a nice, cold glass of nectar and wait for you guys to pull yourselves together."

"Oh, isn't she soooo sweet." Beckendorf said, thinking Clarisse was out of earshot, but she heard him anyway.

"You shouldn't be saying that with that metal heart of yours!" She yelled as she rounded the corner. Beckendorf made a move to go after her, but Silena held him back and gave a small smile.

"Hush, don't get all worked up, Charlie."

"Clarisse has the right idea though," Jason said. "I wouldn't mind some ambrosia right now."

"Same here." Zoe sighed, walking after Clarisse.

"Who's in the worst condition?" Lee asked, looking at all of us, trying to determine which one had the most fatal injury. "I'll help you out first."

Annabeth gave a small smile, "You don't have to do all the work, Lee."

"I know but—Nico!" Lee's eyes came to a stop of the demi-god sitting in the corner. His hair had fallen in front of his face, he was gripping his shoulder, and by the way his muscles tensed, I bet you he was clenching his teeth to keep from shaking.

"I'm fine. Go help the others, I can wait." He said, voice strained.

"You can wait my ass." Lee hauled Nico up off the ground and draped his arm over one of his shoulders. "Grover can you get his other arm."

"No!" Nico said, stumbling back, almost knocking Lee over in the process. "Don't touch my shoulder!"

Grover put his hands up and backed away, "Okay! Okay! What's wrong?"

"His brother broke his shoulder," Jessica interrupted. "I can't explain it, one second his brother was ten feet away from him, the next he had Nico pinned to the ground underneath him. He had gotten so angry, he looked almost demonic . . . there was nothing I could do."

"Don't blame yourself." I said and she nodded as if she was trying to convince herself of that. Lee and Nico headed for the infirmary and the rest of us decided to follow.

~/~

The last time we had been in the infirmary was when Annabeth had her "headache" and the entire room seemed so dreary, but this time around (even with all our injuries) the room had a better feel to it, more positive.

Our infirmary was awesome, well at least that's what I thought. It was connected to the castle, but instead of being included inside the building, it jutted out of the side, resting atop a small cliff face. We had sixteen cots, two showers that were separated from the room by a brick wall, a private cot and an ice bath, that were both separated from us by curtains. By the time we had got in there, Clarisse was already in the ice bath, clothes thrown into the laundry hamper or rather the, _"These clothes are so cut up they will never be able to be worn again so let's just throw them out"_ hamper.

"Jeez, Clarisse, cover up. Pull the curtain over or something." Luke said.

"Are you serious? My whole body is covered in ice, you can't see anything." She snapped, obviously irritated.

"I'm _joking_." Luke chuckled. Clarisse growled and grumbled into the ice.

"What's got you in such a bad mood?" I asked, sitting on the cot closest to Clarisse. Pollux was on the cot just one over with Zoe helping him bandage his injuries. His eyes moved from Clarisse to me, and back to Clarisse again, as if he was waiting for her to explo—Oh, man I really hope I didn't ask the wrong question. I faced Clarisse and gulped down air.

Instead of going on a rampage, she took a deep breath, leaned her head against the back of the ice bath, and answered, "My. Brother."

"Your brother?" I asked, confused.

"Yea, Jackson, and you know him." She said and it clicked.

"Phobos." I said, darkly.

"Mhm, if we had stayed in that gods' damn library any longer, I thought him and Deimos were going to start a tag team or something." She said, trying to relax her muscles.

"How do you know Phobos, Percy?" Annabeth asked. Clarisse shot me a death glare almost automatically.

"Um, long story, long story. I'll tell you later." (A/N: If you don't understand this, see the description.)

"Alright." Annabeth said, lying down on a cod. She tried to hide the cringe that she made as her body hit came in contact with the sheets, but I could see through it.

"Annabeth, are you okay?" I said, walking over to her and sitting at the end of the cot.

"I'm fine." She smiled. "Just tired."

"Wise Girl, you cringed . . . because you lied down on a piece of fabric. I don't think you're okay." I said and she gave me one of her famous irritated glares. Silena made her way over to us, with a glass of nectar in hand.

"Annabeth, what's wrong?" Silena said, setting down the nectar on a small table next to the cot. "Please tell me." Her voice was soothing and sweet and it made me sleepy. I was about to close my eyes and take a snooze, but Annabeth's voice snapped me out of it.

"You may have gained the ability of charm speak along with your mom's power, but it still isn't going to work on me." She growled.

"Don't be worried to lay the charm on thick, Silena." Thalia called from the opposite side of the room. I could see the worry in her eyes, but she couldn't do much with her ankle sprained and almost broken.

"_Please_," Silena said, grasping Annabeth's hand. "I just want to help. Tell me what's wrong and I can help you."

"Stop," Annabeth said weakly. She was not going to be happy about this when Silena was done. "Silena, you're hurt to. Don't worry about me."

"But I have to worry, because _you're hurt._ Tell me what's wrong. _Are you okay?_" She said again and I was just about ready to pass out.

"Cut." Annabeth said, closing her eyes.

Silena and I looked at each other, "_What did you say, Annabeth?"_

"Cut." She said once more and Silena let go of her hand.

"She's cut." Silena said, stating the obvious.

"But where?" I asked and then shook Annabeth lightly, waking her up from her reverie. "Annabeth, where did you get cut?"

"Wha, wha—SILENA!"

"Hush, you can yell at me later. Where did you get cut?" Silena asked. "Don't make me use charm speak again. Annabeth grimaced and removed her shirt. Silena's hand shot to her mouth reflexively and Zoe hurried over with plate over ambrosia to go with the nectar.

"Oh, gods." I murmured. There was a large cut running down Annabeth's right side, from right below her armpit to her hip, but it didn't look as if it ended there. Zoe noticed this too.

"Annabeth, take off your pants." Zoe said, grabbing a roll of gauze from inside the gigantic medicine closet we had.

"Oooo, frisky—Oh, ow." Luke commented, receiving a punch in the gut which made him double over. Beckendorf and Clarisse laughed simultaneously. "I'm glad my pain can bring you two together."

"Shut up, all of you." Zoe commanded and everyone did as told. "Take off your pants."

"Do I have to?" Annabeth asked.

"Yes." Zoe replied simply.

"But—"

"If you don't, I will." Zoe said, harsher this time.

"Can't I go into one of the private cots?" Annabeth asked.

"No."

"But why—" Zoe shot her a look that shut her right up.

I squeezed her knee and she looked over at me. I whispered to her, "It's not like you're going to be naked, Wise Girl." She contemplated this for a moment and then sighed deeply.

"Fine." She said, unzipping her pants and pulling them down; Zoe ripped them all the way off.

"Annabeth!" Silena yelled and Annabeth pulled the blanket over her face. The cut continued from her hip, all the way down to her knee.

"H-how is it not bleeding?" I asked stupidly.

"I didn't want you to know, so I sort of used a bit of my mother's knowledge to find a solution." She said from underneath the sheet. "Um, a healing incantation just sort of popped into my head and I recited it. I don't think anything will happen."

"Nothing is going to happen, but it wasn't wise for you to use her power." Zoe said, whispering a few words in Greek and suddenly the cut looked fresh and started bleeding. Annabeth hissed.

"That hurt!" She said, ripping the blanket off her face.

"Hush, let me heal it the best I can and the rest might take at the most a day." Zoe said. "If you rest."

"And what if I don't." Annabeth said smugly and Zoe's eyes narrowed.

"If you don't—"

"Would you two stop bickering?" Lee yelled from across the room and we all looked up to see him examining Nico's shoulder. "I can barely focus."

"Lee, calm down, it's not like I'm in critical condition." Nico said and then looked over at us. "You alright?" He asked Annabeth, smiling.

"I think I should be asking you that question." Annabeth chuckled.

"Actually, Nico, you are in critical condition and we're about to do something I'm almost positive you are not going to like." Lee said, sounding a bit irritated. He looked wound up, a bit nervous, as if he was in an uncomfortable position.

"Lee, what's going on?" Zoe asked.

"Beckendorf, Jason, Luke. Please if you would come here." Lee said, ignoring Zoe's question.

"Lee, what are you doing?" Katie asked calmly. Lee looked like he was about to explode. "Is something wrong with Nico's shoulder?"

"It's hard to explain," Lee said, directing our three friends around Nico's cot. "Luke, Beckendorf, hold his legs down. Jason, get his other shoulder."

"Whoa, whoa. What's going on here?" Nico said panicked. Luke, Beckendorf, and Jason exchanged nervous glances at one another but held him down anyway.

"I think your shoulder already set." Lee explained. "Your body healed it by itself and now, I have to break it in order to set it straight."

"That's insane." Grover said, surprised at how much our bodies had changed.

"How did his body heal it? It's not like our parents can just magically heal themselves." Annabeth said.

"Yes, they can." Lee insisted.

"Alright, they can, but not as fast as Nico did." Annabeth countered. "How long has it been? An hour?"

"Yeah, but with all the adrenaline, maybe he accidently lost control off this curse thing and—"

"Some energy might have seeped through and healed him." Annabeth finished his sentence. "He did lose control."

"Don't talk about that." Nico whined. "Just reset my shoulder."

"Okay." Lee said, and everyone feel silent. "Katie, can you get me a spatula from the kitchen?" She was in and out of the room in less than thirty seconds. He handed the spatula Nico. "I need you to bite down on the handle. We don't need a broken jaw along with your shoulder."

Nico did as told and Lee placed his hands on Nico's shoulder. "One, two, three!"

**CRACK.**

Nico spit the spatula out, "MOTHER—"

"LANGUAGE!" Katie scolded.

"Oh my gods! That hurt, it really, ugh!" Nico screamed, frustrated, because he knew he couldn't curse or Katie would slap him upside the head.

"Sorry, it's over now at least." Lee said, already bandaging Nico's shoulder.

"And you're all wrapped up as well." Zoe said, patting Annabeth's knee. Her whole abdomen was bandaged and thigh seemed to be healing from the nectar. Zoe turned to me next.

"Now, let's see about that gut." She said, pulling me over onto another cot.

"No, really I'm fine." I said, trying to push her away.

"Ha! Like anyone believes that, Kelp Head!" Clarisse laughed.

"Ugh, fine." I said and let Zoe start examining my wounds.

"I need a shower." Jason said, stripping off his shirt and heading for one of the two cubicles.

"Ah, Romans and their public showers, don't understand the meaning of privacy." I snickered.

"Oh, you're soooo funny." Jason replied and everyone erupted in laughter.

Olympian Throne Room:

"What are we going to do?" Artemis yelled. "Whenever we get close to them they run. We can't trap them, we can't defeat them."

"Well, we're not gonna kill them!" Apollo yelled back.

"No, duh!"

"Stop!" Hera commanded and the siblings fell silent.

"My daughter. . . was with them. She found them." Hestia said, rubbing her temples.

"Yea, virgin goddess, what happened?" Hera laughed.

"Oh shut up, little sister!" Hestia said, emphasizing the last part. Hera made a growling noise at the back of her throat, but did nothing. Just then their children entered the throne room.

"Did all of you heal?" Athena asked.

"Yes, just fine." Elizabeth said, rubbing her arm as if the cut was still there.

"We have an idea." Perseus said, getting straight to the point. He gestured to Thomas.

"It's a bit different, but I'm positive it will work." Thomas said and Mr.D looked at his son, trying to figure out what he was planning. The Olympians exchanged glances.

"Go on." Athena said.

The Castle:

Everyone was about to turn in for the night. Nico would remain in the infirmary to heal, others would return to their rooms and get as much rest as possible. Left over gauze and bandages were thrown out. Glasses that once held nectar were being cleaned and pajamas where exchanged for cut up and worn out clothes.

Everything seemed at ease, until of course, a voice boomed throughout the halls. It sounded as if the person was talking through a loud speaker that didn't exist. The demi-gods sprang into action, grabbing their swords, standing back to back, and waited for their enemy to attack.

"Listen very carefully, brats." The voice said.

"That's my brother." Pollux stated, scanning the room with his eyes, but we all knew that his brother wasn't here.

"We are going to give you one day. One day to heal, catch up on your training – ha, like that'll help –and figure out a plan to stop us. Once tomorrow is over, I will see you the next day, at 7 pm, in a club in Rome. Don't worry, you'll figure out which one. Anyway, show up and you get your precious Oracle back. Don't show up and it's not going to end well for our parents. Have a nice night."

"Damn him!" Beckendorf yelled, digging his sword into the floor. He pulled it out and the floor automatically fixed itself.

"We need that book." Clarisse said. "I bet it would have told us how to defeat another heir. If only they hadn't attacked us, then we wouldn't have lost it."

"Hey, do you guys really underestimate me that much? My plans can go wrong sometimes, but I never lose." Annabeth smirked and we all looked over to her as a golden book with silver swirls running across the front appeared in her hands.

* * *

><p>Hi, again! Thanks for reading! :D<p>

Did you know Hestia was a virgin goddess? o.e Rick didn't tell us much in the Last Olympian except that she did give up her throne.

Also, about the A/N. If you don't understand what they meant, it was in The Demigod Files. If you haven't read it, Rick has side stories of the Percy Jackson series in there and one of them involved Percy and Clarisse going on an adventure and her two brothers, Phobos and Deimos, were introduced. Let's just say they don't get along well, because I don't want to ruin it for anyone who hasn't read the book.

Oh, and Annabeth still wasn't able to explain what happened to Nico with all that armor. I guess it will be revealed in the next chapter.

Bye for now! :)


	29. Chapter 27

I'm alive! Whoo! But yes, here is the twenty-seventh chapter of SECRETS (if anyone is still reading this, because I'm a terrible person and I'm never able to update).

But in all seriousness, I'm sorry about not updating. I was sick and then my family keeps pulling everywhere to do work around the house, or rather get me out of the house since it's summer. I also apologize for any spelling errors, and if anything is confusing don't be afraid to ask because I'm seriously not sure how I explained this, I'm not that good at explaining stuff. ^^ (I've probably said this like a billion times.)

Anyway, I hope you and enjoy the chapter and thanks for reading! :) 3

* * *

><p>Percy Jackson – SECRETS – Chap. 27<p>

Someplace Somewhere:

Rachel was cold, unmoving as she lied upon the small bed in the dark, unfriendly room. But if it was so uninviting, than why could she feel soft, cotton sheets underneath her? And why was the room so warm, the perfect temperature to make it feel cozy.

The servants would come every few hours and she could feel a needle being pricked into her skin every time. They would apologize again and again, muttering things like, 'This is only to keep you asleep' and 'We're feeding you, giving you nutrients to stay alive, miss.' She would become more and more agitated with their visits and would only want them to leave. It's not that she didn't believe them, but rather that she was angered. Why keep her asleep? She couldn't feed herself? What? Didn't want to screw up my makeup or chip my nail polish?

Suddenly a door creaked upon, disrupting her thoughts, and someone stepped into the room, closing the door behind them. The footsteps made their way across the room, shoes scuffing against the wooden floor. Rachel sensed a presence beside her and then it was sitting on the bed right next to her. Fingers traced her jaw line and ghosted across her cheek; she couldn't help but wrinkle her nose in disgust.

"Don't be so cruel." He said and she suddenly wanted to run out of the room, but of course she couldn't even _move. _"The servants will be back tomorrow to make sure you look absolutely perfect. You'll be seeing your friends soon."

Percy, she thought, Annabeth and Nico. Her mind was in pure bliss, until she realized that a meeting with her friends could only mean bad things for them. Without warning, his voice suddenly appeared next to her ear.

"But do you really want to see them again, because I can promise you that they won't be around for much longer." Thomas said. That stupid, stupid Son of Dionysus. How could Mr.D have had a child so evil, so vile? Pollux was one of the sweetest people she had ever met. How could this man be his brother? The redhead wanted to make a snide comment back, but she couldn't even speak. It didn't matter either way; he was already gone without her even noticing.

Jessica:

_No time now, but you are most definitely going to explain. _

His voice rang through my head as I walked down the grand staircase and made my way for the infirmary. I didn't need to talk about it right now, heck, if I really didn't want to I would never need to talk about it; even though Nico wanted to know, he wouldn't force me, that's just the kind of person he was. Well, unless you were an enemy, then in that case don't catch him on a bad day.

The hall was silent except for the patter of my bare feet on the tiled floor. Goosebumps started to form along my forearms and I shivered, it was pretty cold in here. Did Lee turn up the air conditioning again? I followed the familiar path to the infirmary, but by the time I got there, I was debating on whether or not I should wake him.

Nico was lying on the cot; two pillows to keep his head elevated and a blanket that covered everything but his feet. I sighed softly, he must've kicked his feet out; he hated having them covered. I made my way over to his bedside and pulled the blanket over his feet. I couldn't disrupt him now, not while he was resting. I gave him a quick kiss on the cheek and headed for the hall.

"What? No hug?" He said, voice cutting through the night.

"You could have let me know you were awake." I turned, crossing my arms across my chest.

"But if I did, I wouldn't have gotten that kiss." He said, smugly.

"Oh, well, you got the kiss, so I guess I'll just be going." I made a move to leave, but he stopped me again.

"I didn't get a hug." He extended his arms, the best he could with that broken shoulder of his, and gave a small smile. I sighed again, walking over to the cot and jumping in, pulling the cover over both of us. "You're freezing." He commented.

"Well, it is pretty cold in here at night, and I'm sorry my body isn't built to withstand the burning temperatures of Hades. Your body can change from an icicle to a campfire in a millisecond." I said, a little harsher than I intended.

"No need to get snippy with me—"

"Only you'd say that."

"And no need to comment on my old-fashioned ways, but you are right, my body heat is a little crazy sometimes. People usually always expect it to be cold."

"Your brother's cold." I said, without thinking, and immediately regretted it. Nico took a sharp breathe and pulled me closer, trying to relax himself, but failing miserably. His voice was strained.

"I . . . almost forgot about that. Thank you for reminding me. So, would you like to tell me?"

I snuggled deeper into his hold, "Do I have to?"

"No, you don't." He sighed, fingers combing through my hair. Just as I thought.

"But I will." I said.

"You don't have to—"

"I will, Nico, I owe you that much."

"You don't owe me anything." He objected.

"But I do. I haven't been completely honest with you, besides you've already saved my life." I said, images of rusted knives, fresh cuts, and blood-stained tile floors making their way back into my mind . . . and the way his arms tightened around me, I knew he was doing the same.

"Was he there . . . when I was?" Nico asked. I took a deep breath, finally ready to let all of it out.

"Yes, but not at the same time you were. He had come earlier. I was all alone after school one day and he started saying things to me, in my mind. Strange things. He said I'd die in pain, that no one would be there for me when the time came, I'd be all alone. . .that it would be best to just end it all now. Then all of a sudden I was in my bathroom, knife breaking skin, but I wasn't doing it on my own. Well . . . at least I don't think I was. I was frozen there for around an hour, and then someone was picking me up, healing my wounds, feeding me ambrosia. Saving me. . .you were saving me." My voice was calm, quiet as I explained all of this to Nico.

"Was that the only time he came?" He asked.

"No, there were several more before that, but he stopped once you started showing up." I answered quickly. He didn't respond and after a few minutes of silence I started to worry. I raised my head up; to see if had fallen asleep. "Nic—" I tried to say, but than his lips were on mine and it didn't matter.

He held me close, one hand on my back, the other on my neck, so I couldn't pull away; but who said that I wanted to. My hands fisted in his t-shirt and I started to regret pulling the covers over us, especially with the heat he was producing at the moment. We stayed like that for a few minutes, before suddenly pulling apart, both of us breathing heavy.

"What . . . what was that?" I asked.

"I couldn't honestly tell you," Nico said. "I just—I actually don't know."

"I think your hormones are acting up." I laughed.

"Haha, very funny, but I did want to tell you that, that— I want you to know you're loved." He said and I let my forehead rest against his while a smile slowly force its way onto my face.

"I already knew that." I said and he raised an eyebrow. "How could I _not_ with a boyfriend like you around."

"Don't know whether to consider that an insult or a compliment." He smirked and I gave him a quick kiss.

"A compliment, Nico. I guess now I should be going, you need your rest." I sighed, but Nico only tightened his grip.

"Don't go. Just stay with me tonight. Please?" He asked and I rolled my eyes.

"Alright, fine, but let's get straight to sleeping. You. Need. Rest. No more talking." I said.

"Now look who's being all grown-up, and old-fashioned, and blahblahblah. You're going to start sounding like your mother." He snickered.

"Oh, hush." I said, snuggling closer to Nico and finally, _finally_ letting my mind slip into a dreamless sleep.

Nico:

My mind was chaos, staring blankly at the ceiling. I couldn't fall asleep, even if I was exhausted. I mean, how could I? When she just told me about that whole thing, that whole brother thi—I didn't even want to think about it. Whatever happened in that library, all that armor, it definitely pissed my brother off. But what _he_ was able to do, it looked like he had had everything under control, while I was just a gigantic ball of anger with nowhere to go. But If I could control that like he did, he wouldn't be able to go near Jess again. He would never touch her again, oh hey, look at that I'm getting possessive again that's nice.

Back on track, Nico, back on track. There had to be some way to control that whole build up of power. I'd be able to _kill_ him if I could do that. I know, that sounds a little cruel, killing my own brother, but honestly he was already dead. They only brought him back to capture me and he crossed the line once it came to Jess. How was he even able to visit her for months if he'd only come back a few days ago. I don't understand. Would my dad even care if I were to tell him what he did? Would Demeter care? It was her daughter. Would they even _listen? _I don't know.

At some point I feel asleep, crowded thoughts still fighting for my attention.

Percy:

"Hey, sleepyhead, wake up." Annabeth said, kissing my temple. My eyelids slid upon and I smiled at the sigh in front of me. It was bright, enough for me to squint against the sudden light change, but also enough for the sun to glint against her golden curls. I raised a hand, running my fingers through her hair, and sighed as I gazed into her stormy grey eyes. "Seaweed Brain?"

"Yes?" I said dreamily.

"You're drooling."

"Wha—aw, man!" I said, sitting up and desperately whipping the drool off my chin. Annabeth laughed, sitting up in bed beside me.

"Don't worry, you're still just as cute as ever." She jumped up off the bed and grabbed her bathrobe from the floor, pulling it tightly around herself.

"I'd rather be sexy, then cute, Wise Girl." I said and she rolled her eyes.

"Come one, there's a lot to do today. We've got a book to read, battle strategies to plan, we have to figure out what we're wearing for tomorrow night." She said, ticking every event off her fingers as if they were things you'd see on a grocery list.

"Can't we just . . . stay in bed for a few more minutes?" I asked, giving her my best puppy dog eyes. . .but of course that didn't work.

"No, because a few minutes always turns into an _hour_." She said, extending her hand and I let her haul me out of bed. Before she could turn away, I grabbed her by her waist, holding her tight so she couldn't run away.

"You've never cared about lounging around before now. What happened?" I smiled and she stuck her tongue out at me.

"Our lives were never in danger before." She answered and I shot her my are-you-actually-serious look. "Okay, yes they have, a bunch of times, but not like this. This is different, it effects everyone."

I sighed, kissing her before she could say another word. She returned the favor and I could feel her muscles relaxing in my arms. We broke apart and I placed a kiss on her forehead, "You really need to relax, Annabeth. You know, lighten up."

"I will relax . . . once I open that book." She said, breaking away and heading for the door. "Now, get ready, there's something I need to tell the three of you."

"The three of us?" I asked, confused.

She smiled, "You and Nico and Jason."

Luke:

I scanned the room, my mind forming the perfect route I needed in order to get to the table without Lee beating me to the finish. That's when I spotted him, coming in from the family room and I caught his eye. It was one split second that we stared each other down, and the next—

"I call it!" Lee screamed and we both bolted for the table in the middle of the room. He was going to win, but at the last second I tackled him to the floor and used the table to pull myself up first, grabbing my prize.

"WAFFLES!" I yelled gleefully, dropping the last one on my plate along with the rest of breakfast. But before I knew it Lee snatched it off my plate and was holding it high in the air.

"HA!"

"I'm still taller than you, dumbass!" I said, jumping up and grabbing it, but he wouldn't let go. "I won it fair and square."

"No, you tackled me!" Lee yelled, pulling the waffle from my grasp, but I had such a tight grip on it that it broke in two.

"NO!" We screamed in unison, right before a plate, stacked high with fresh waffles, was dropped on the table before us.

"There are always more, guys." Katie laughed, walking back to the stove. We looked at each other awkwardly and then proceeded to grab at the waffles, filling our plates for breakfast.

"Well, one good thing that comes out of this whole mess is that I get to see these two blondes act like idiots again." Beckendorf laughed, flipping pancakes onto a plate.

"Hey," Lee said, his mouth already stuff with waffles. "We're not idiots, we just like brining a little humor into your day."

"Ha, good excuse." Clarisse snorted.

"It's not an excuse! I have to keep up my cheery attitude, especially with you walking the halls, Mrs. Grumpy Pants." Lee shot back and they went off bickering. I made my way over to the table that wasn't cluttered with food and sat down, smiling into my plate; it was good to be back.

"It really is just so great to wake up in the morning and see my boyfriend fighting over a waffle, very attractive I have to admit." Someone said, taking a seat next to me and stealing a strawberry from my plate.

"Hey Thalia, how's your morning?" I asked, nonchalantly.

"Well, it's lovely, how's yours?" She played along, stealing another strawberry.

"It's awesome," I said and then quickly added, "By the way, Thals, you don't have to tell me that I'm attractive, I already know." She shoved me playfully, and jumped out of her seat to get her own food before I could get my revenge.

"Please flirt on your own time, it's 9:00 and you're still all eating breakfast, there's a lot to do." Zoe said, sitting straight up in her seat, arms crossed.

"At least we're all dressed." Lee said.

"She's right" Annabeth said, putting her now empty plate in the dishwasher. "We should get moving."

"Can't we just wait a few more minutes, I mean we fought a battle yesterday." Jason groaned, dropping down on the couch.

"Stop whining." Zoe scolded. "This is a serious matter and you're not treating it like one."

"But it isn't even twelve yet." Percy added and Annabeth shot him a look.

"Hey, has anyone seen Samantha? She hasn't come down for breakfast yet." Katie asked. Most of us shook our heads and others looked around, to check if she wasn't already down here, but I think we all realized the exact same thing.

"Wait, was she even in the infirmary with us last night?" Percy asked.

"I don't think she was." Thalia answered.

"Did anyone see her during the battle?" Nico asked. Again, everyone shook their head.

"Ohmygods." Silena said, grabbing her heart.

"Nobody panic." Annabeth said immediately.

"Do you think she's okay?" Silena asked. "I can't believe we didn't realize she wasn't here!"

"Silena, are you alright? Realize who wasn't here?" Someone asked and all our heads whipped around towards the archway that Sammie was standing under . . . completely unharmed . . . the Book of Heirs in hand. She came to the realization just about the same time we did. "This . . . doesn't look good does it?"

"What the, I don't understand." Thalia said, completely baffled. "I-I don't even know what to say, are you-are you on their side? Do you want to kill your mother? Were you with them yesterday? Where have you been?"

"Thalia I think you're going into shock." Sammie said.

Thalia snorted, rolling her eyes. "Please I'm not going into shock, I'm just surprise and-and confused, you seemed so sweet and nice and willing to help us."

"And I am!"

"And you—wait, what? I don't understand, what's going on?"

Samantha sighed, making her way across the room to plop down in a chair. She placed the book on the table, fingers tracing the swirls along the cover, and remained silent.

"Sammie," Thalia said, softer this time. "What is going on?"

"I'm . . I'm the," She took a deep breath, as if the words pained her. "I'm the only Heir of Hestia, the only _daughter_ of Hestia. And all of your siblings, they want me to take Hestia's position for them, they have no one and they need me."

"Alright, but that doesn't explain why you weren't here yesterday." Zoe said, speaking up. I glanced over her at her and saw that she was staring daggers at Sammie.

"I think she has an explanation, Zoe." I said. She stayed still, pretending not to hear what I said.

"I was with them last night." She admitted.

"HA!" Zoe screamed, making half of us jump.

"Zoe." Katie said, in a firm-motherly tone that even made me want zip my mouth shut, and I wasn't even talking. Zoe shrunk back in her seat, obviously feeling a bit humiliated.

"But I was only there to tell them I would never join their precious little cool kid club. Ugh, especially after what I saw yesterday. To think some of them were actually thought to be good people, I mean do you see what they did to you, it's just terrible. Truly horrible, vicious, and disgust—"

"Sammie, wait!" Thalia yelled.

"What?"

"You know where they were the entire time and you didn't tell us?" Thalia asked.

"Wait, what do you mea—Oh! No, I don't know where they are, they sort of dragged me there during the fight." She said simply.

"Why were you reading the book?" Annabeth said, not trying to be rude, but it was obvious the curiosity was getting the best of her.

"I came back late last night, when I transported myself here. I wasn't really trying to aim for a single spot and I dropped down in the middle of the library. Walked around, came across the book, found some drawings, and then I got curious. So, finally I just sat down in a chair and spent the rest of the night reading it." Sammie explained, and she held the book out for Annabeth to take. "You could probably put it to better use than I can."

Annabeth walked up and took it without hesitation, "You said something about drawings?"

"They were more like sketches and they looked like battle scenes, some random doodles that weren't given much thought, most likely just drawn to get them out of the person's head."

"Hey, I saw those too." Annabeth said, eyes sparking with interest.

"We can talk about those later." Thalia said quickly, "Let's get back to the topic."

"I can't believe we didn't realize you were gone, I'm so sorry Sammie." Silena said, combing her fingers through her hair absentmindedly.

"No, it's alright. I had to get them to stop bothering me." Sammie said quickly, making sure Silena didn't feel bad about it. Because if Silena felt bad, you'd never hear the end of it, she has to big of a heart.

"They've been after you since you met us at the restaurant?" Thalia asked.

"No, they've been after me my whole life."

"What?" Katie asked, sitting down next to her. "How long?"

Sammie's eyebrow furrowed and she looked off into space, as if she couldn't remember. "It started when I was 11 . . . 12?"

"That's when most of us got to camp," Beckendorf said and then added. "_Most."_

"Haha, very funny, Beckendorf." I said, and he chuckled quietly to himself.

"What'd they do? Visit you every so often or did they hurt you?" Katie questioned.

Sammie sighed, standing up and pushing her chair in, "Listen, there's time to discuss my past later, we don't even have to discuss it honestly, but for now there's stuff that needs to be done, am I correct?"

"Yes, there is," Zoe said, recovering from her embarrassment. "Let's get started."

"One more question." Annabeth said, already looking through the book. "Sammie, who visited you? Just Triton? Or maybe my sister, or Silena's?"

"All of them, at different times of course. Sometimes Triton, or yours, Pollux's brother was never fun, and sometimes Perseus."

"But Perseus has been dead for . . . centuries." Jason said, confused.

"That's what I thought," Sammie said. "But then he started visiting me and I started questioning all the history books."

"That can't be possible our parents brought our siblings back from the Underworld, only a few days ago." Katie said.

"That's where you're wrong." Annabeth said and she looked at all of us. "Come guys, we've got a lot of work to do."

Percy:

Everyone sprung into action.

Beckendorf went to work in the forge, wielding every tool imaginable, fixing up weapons, making Greek fire bombs, and working on things I wasn't even allowed to see. Lee took a risky chance, but he helped us all heal our injuries completely, which was the only thing that could have been done, unless we wanted to go into another battle with still sensitive wounds. Annabeth went into full planner mode, she had moved all the couches in the conference room and set down tables which were quickly covered with books, pencils, and gigantic sheets of blank white paper. At one point, we decided that everyone would be gather in the training room so we could practice moves, teach each other new tricks, and give each other insight on what to expect from out siblings. Everything was going fine, until Annabeth brought up her surprise.

"You want us to WHAT?" I yelled at my girlfriend with a mixture of confusion and fear. Annabeth was calm, arms crossed and dagger strapped to her side. She had asked if everyone could take a break (of course, no one protested) and then she called all three of us to the middle of the room.

"I want you to fight." Annabeth repeated.

"Annabeth, that's insane, we'll blow the roof off this place." Nico said, rubbing his temples.

"That's true," Jason said "We can't just go full out demi-god mode and start slashing at each other with all we got."

"See, we're all against it. Now, let's go back to training." I said, hoping she would abandon the idea.

"I don't want you to fight with swords." She said quickly, trying to change our minds.

"Well, what do you want us to fight with?" Jason asked.

"Your powers, guys, the stuff you were born with." I almost passed the fuck out.

"Ha! We'll definitely blow the roof off the place then. No doubt about it." Nico said, clearly irritated. "Annabeth, no offence, but I can't believe someone as smart as you would come up with such a stupid idea. We're wasting time. Let's get back to training."

"Don't you want to know what happened to you in the library?" Annabeth asked and Nico froze.

"What happened?" Jason asked.

"This one," Annabeth said, pointing to Nico. "Lost control of his anger and suddenly, he was standing there with shiny, new armor and his brother looking at him with so much hate it was honestly scary."

"How'd you do that?" I asked, surprised. This was new, cause neither of us could do it.

"I don't know," Nico mumbled. "I just got really mad and suddenly I felt something surge up inside my chest and 'Look! New armor!' it's not my fault."

"Well, what does that mean? It obviously has to do with the curse, right?" Jason asked.

"Of course," Annabeth answered. "And we can all do it, I mean if the energy takes to us that well."

"What are you talking about?" I asked.

"To make this easy, since we are wasting time, the way I see it, this heir thing is transferring, or rather copying our parents energy, you could call it power if you want, into us—"

"That's exactly what it's doing, we know that." Jason said and Annabeth shot him a look to stop him from interrupting her.

"Yes, but if the power takes hold of the body to well, then it might actually start aiding you instead of causing you problems. This power isn't ours, we can't control it all that well, but if it fits us well, like a really good new pair of shoes, then it will start becoming your own."

"You're comparing our parents ancient powers to a brand new pair of well-fitting shoes?" I asked.

"Yea, I guess so." She said after a moment.

"And that's why you're my girlfriend," I smiled, kissing her on the cheek.

She laughed, "Well, now that I've explained, go! Start fighting!" And with that she turned around and bolted to the sidelines.

"But we didn't agree yet. . ." I said, voice faltering. Guess there was no way around it, we had to do this.

"It sounds like she wants all of us to be able to do what I did in the library." Nico said.

"No crap." Jason mumbled and Nico shot him a look.

"Well, sorry for stating the obvious but someone at least should so we don't get confused." Nico snapped.

"Guys, looks like we're not going to do anything else until we get this done so Nico, if you would kindly tell us what you did so we can get this over with?" I asked, trying to keep them both as calm as possible. No one needed a real fight right now.

"I don't know what I did, Perce, I just got really mad, that's all." Nico said, shrugging his arms.

"Well, I'd rather do this without fighting." I said.

"What the problem with a little fighting?" Jason asked, unsheathing his sword. "As long as we keep a hold on our emotions, I think its fine."

"But there's the problem," Nico said, poking Jason in the chest. "You won't."

"First, hands off. Second, why wouldn't I? I've got a good hold on my anger, unlike you, who already blew up." Jason spat back.

"Ha! Don't try to be Mr. Perfect, I can name a few times that you've lost it. Get over yourself!" Nico yelled and everyone looked up from what they had been doing.

"If you think I'm that egotistic, you should take a look at yourself—" Jason wasn't able to finish his insult, because Nico sent a right hook flying into his jaw, **hard.**

Jason flew back, landing on his ass and grabbing at his jaw, looking up at a very surprised Nico. "Jason, I didn't mean to . . ." I took a few steps back, not sure whether they were going to fight or not.

"What?" Jason asked, rubbing his chin. "Didn't mean to let your anger get the best of you again." And with that he jumped up, shocking Nico in the chest, which cause the Son of Hades to fly back a good ten feet.

Well, shit.


	30. Chapter 28

I have finally finished Chapter 28! And I never, EVER wanted it to take this long to upload but SO MANY things got in the way and I am so, so, so sorry. I can't tell you how sorry I am, I hate when writers leave me hanging and that's what I did to everyone who reads my fic. Ugh, I feel so horrible about it, but I hope this extra long chapter makes it up to you. (Btw, I cannot believe that this chapter made it to almost 20 pages, that's insane!)

In the next chapter, you can expect a lot more fun, and the club, and of course all the fabulous couple and maybe a little smooching. You know that one fun scene that there is in at least every movie? Yeah, it's sorta like that.

I hope you all enjoy and please review! And again, I'm sorry I took so long!

* * *

><p>Percy Jackson – SECRETS – Chap. 28<p>

Percy:

I immediately put my hands up. "Guys, guys just calm down and everything will be if—" I jumped back as a bolt electricity flew past me and straight at Nico. Looking to my left, I saw Jason back on his feet, spear in hand. Looking to my right, I saw Nico rolling to the side in order to dodge the bolt. In seconds he was back on his feet, sword in hand. And I was right in the line of fire.

Oh for the love of— "PERCY WATCH OUT!" Thalia screamed from the sideline and I ducked down in time to avoid being scorched by a ball of black fire.

"Hey!" I yelled, getting Nico's attention. "What was that for?"

"Just shut up, dumbass." He said, resuming his fight with Jason. That's it; I'm not getting involved with this.

"Percy, what are you doing?" Beckendorf asked as I walked towards the door.

"I'm not going to start a useless, immature fight with these two morons!" The second the words left my mouth I heard Silena gasp, and something hit me right between my shoulder blades and it _burned._

"Who are you calling morons, Seaweed Brain?" Nico said, drawling out my nickname just for special effect. I turned to see him holding yet another ball of fire.

Alright then.

A wave crashed through one of the many windows in the training room, dousing both Nico and Jason, and knocking them off their heels. I started cracking up, bracing myself against a wall and clutching my stomach, it was pretty comical.

"Percy." Thalia said through gritted teeth.

"What?" I asked, still laughing.

"Bad idea."

"Why?"

"Salt water conducts electricity." She said, staring at me, waiting for something to happen.

"Wait, what?!" I asked, realization hitting me right before the bolt could and I rolled to the side, but that didn't keep the next one from hitting my stomach and throwing me into a wall. "Jason! Come on! I don't even have armor on!"

"You will." Annabeth muttered. I didn't have time to ask what my girlfriend, I unsheathed riptide and charged at my cousin, first coming into contact with Jason's spear. It only took a few seconds to overpower him, kicking him in the gut and sending him to the floor, leaving me just enough time to meet Nico's sword mid-slash. He was soaking wet and the grip he had on his sword wasn't the best, but he already had armor on; the armor Annabeth had been talking about. Now I could tell what she had meant by frightening. It was obsidian black, with ridges etched in to the metal. Every now one area of the ridges with merge into a face, one which was clearly in pain, and then it would take its original form.

It reminded me of Hades' Helm of Darkness, which wasn't the most comforting thought, but the armor wasn't effecting me personally at the moment, so I didn't really care. Our swords were locked so I stole a quick glance to the sidelines. Clarisse was making a bet with Beckendorf, Annabeth and Zoe were discussing probably who they thought would win (Ha! I'm pretty sure none of us will.), and everyone else was just watching, keeping their thoughts to themselves. Grover's face was priceless.

"Nico, calm down," I said, averting my attention back to our fight. "Please."

With one swift kick to the chest, Nico had me on my back, sword point held underneath my chin. "Why should I?"

"Um, cause if you don't, you'll probably have to go fetch me from the Underworld later?" I said. I could practically hear Annabeth rolling her eyes at my comment. Nico snorted and removed his sword from under his chin, raising it high, but before he could take the slash a flash of blue tackled him down. _Oh lovely_, Jason had armor too, what am I? A level one Pokémon? I had to squint my eyes to look at Jason, but from what I could see was that his armor was sleek and form-fitting, patterns etched into only the shoulder pads, and it was constantly flashing, as if it was made from lightning itself.

I had to admit, I was getting jealous.

They stared at me, obviously coming to realize I was the weaker one at the moment, and I wondered whether or not they'd try anything. My eyes shot over to the sidelines real quick, and I'm pretty sure Nico didn't notice it, but Jason did. Maybe somewhere in his head, he knew the real reason to why we were still fighting, but no matter what it was, he threw his spear . . . straight at Annabeth. My breath hitched, including several others, and Luke tackled Annabeth out of the way, but it didn't matter. _That_ definitely made it onto the list of Ways to Piss off Percy Jackson.

Waves roared in my ears as I charged straight at Jason, and the arrogant, little smirk that had been prominent on his face disappeared pretty quickly once the ground started shaking. He desperately tried to keep his balance, but it was too late, I crashed into him like a tsunami, knocking him off his feet and sending him flying into the wall. Nico came at me next, but I disarmed him in less than thirty seconds, and his sword skittered against the floor to the far side of the room. I kicked him on his back, like he had done to me only a few moments ago, and pinned him to the floor with my knee, pressing Riptide up against his neck.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Jason rise and I jumped up, ready to fight him again. "You are all giving me a gods' damn headache. I know this is a big request, but could YOU POSSIBLY STOP ACTING LIKE BARBARIANS. NOW STOP!" Katie screamed and something in her voice made us pause long enough to calm down. The red in my eyes disappeared.

Silena stared at her in shock, "Katie, how'd you do that?"

"I don't know." Katie shrugged, as if it was nothing.

"You gotta teach me that." Thalia said, eyes wide as well.

"I just yelled at them!" She said, hands gesturing towards us.

"Hush up for a sec." Annabeth said.

"Well, _excusssse me."_ Katie said muttered.

"Percy, are you gonna take a look at yourself? All three of you might want to." Annabeth said and I looked down. Yep, that was armor. Armor that held a greenish tint and had fish scales etched into the chest plate. Dang it, it was really cool. I'm not supposed to like this so much.

"This is so cool!" Jason exclaimed. "I've never had better armor than this." He took off into the air, doing roller coaster spins and summersaults.

"Yo, you look like a ballerina!" I called out and he shot me a look. "He's got a point thought, this armor is really nice."

"I wouldn't be too happy about it." Nico muttered, and the look on his face was of sheer concentration.

"What are you trying to do?" I asked.

Instead of Nico answering, Annabeth did. "You're not going to make it disappear, Nico; it'll disappear when it needs too."

"What?" I asked. "So, the armor's like . . . alive?"

"Armor can't be alive." Beckendorf commented. "I mean, some machines can have emotions, and even that's only to a limited extent. Armor is something you wear, it's impossible."

"Maybe this armor can," Annabeth said, and the golden book appeared out of thin air, falling straight into her hands. "I read in here somewhere about something . . ." By now we had all gathered together in a group, and I heard Katie whisper something along the lines of, 'Shouldn't be abusing your mother's power like that.'

"AH! Here it is!" Annabeth yelled, re-reading a passage from the book. _"Most of the time, a god or goddesses power will be forcefully copied and transmitted into the receiver, whether they be willing or not."_

"So, their power's getting copied, in like what, a copy machine?" Lee asked.

"You have absolutely no intelligence trapped inside that stupid head of yours, do you? We've been over this already." Zoe said, staring down Lee as if she was already picturing him with a dunce cap on.

"Hey! That was a little cruel and I am smart, I just not exactly sure how all of this works." Lee said, but his confidence was fading.

"Well, you've been here for a good two months, probably more. Who can tell on this island, I barely know what month it is, and let's not get on to the topic of days." Zoe rambled.

"Stop being so mean to him!" Sammie chastised.

"Getting off topic," Annabeth interrupted. "_But in certain cases, when there are two hosts for the transmitted energy, it may take on a life of its own and choose which one is most worthy."_

"That's a little too cliché." Clarisse said.

"And a little too lucky." Zoe muttered.

"What if it's a trap?" Somebody asked and then all hell broke loose.

"They might've put that in there! They've had plenty of time!"

"What about our parents? Maybe they're screwing with us."

"What about the rest of us?"

"What can simple armor do for us?"

"Why did this 'power' or whatever choose us?"

"What—"

"QUIET!" Annabeth screamed at the top of her longs, so loud that it echoed against the walls. She didn't speak again until everyone was silent. "Thank you. Now, if you'd please, let me finish." I motioned my hands for her to continue. "Alright, I know it sounds really cliché, but it's true. It's hard enough creating a new god, its impossible creating two, at the same time, especially when it's a curse doing the work and not the person. Plus it's not even creating new gods with no titles. It has to create gods to be exactly like the one it's intending to destroy, so that's even harde—"

"You're giving me a headache!" Clarisse shouted.

"Never thought you'd be the one to say that in this relationship." Pollux snorted and Luke almost spit out the water he'd been chugging down.

"Hush up!" Thalia said. "So, you're saying the power approves of them," She pointed to the three of us. "More than their older brothers."

Annabeth's shoulders rose and dropped. "I guess so."

"But then what about us?" Clarisse asked. "What about the rest of us? Is armor going to magically appear on us?"

"Oh, please, let's not start fighting about armor." Zoe said.

"Zip your lip, stardust." Clarisse spat and Zoe glared daggers.

"Well, she's got a point." Luke said. "Why don't we have armor yet? What? Does the power approve of them and not us?"

"Well, with_ you_, I'd expect why it wouldn't." Pollux said.

"Hey!" Luke growled.

Annabeth walked over to me, "This isn't going well." She whispered.

"I know, but we're not even discussing anything important. It's not like we're deciding battle strategies or something." I whispered back. She looked at me, almost sympathetically.

"Percy, this is kind of important." She said.

"Why?" I asked.

"Their ego's are hurt." She said. "Don't tell me yours wasn't."

"Well, I . . ." I wanted to say know, but how could I? My ego had been kind of hurt back there, when Nico and Jason had armor and I didn't. That's usually never happened before, okay, rewind. If I kept saying that I'd be lying to myself. My ego's been hurt in the past, who's hasn't? But were we really fighting over armor? Yea, yea we were. "You're right."

"Maybe we should go to the meeting room?" Sammie offered, jumping into the conversation. I didn't know much about Sammie, but there was something in her eyes that made me trust her. They had a warm, soft glow to them; a lot like her mothers.

"That's a good idea." I murmured.

Thalia:

Everyone had made themselves comfortable in the conference room, shortly after we had moved all of Annabeth's papers and pencils. The fire was blazing, and Sammie was seated at the hearth, poking around at the logs every so often. A few minutes before I caught her actually dipping her fingers in and out of the flames, she saw me staring and snatched her hand back quickly, but I just thought it was cool. Silena had grabbed a cup of hot chocolate, and was snuggling next to Beckendorf, while Clarisse lay on a couch like she had a few nights ago, her head in Pollux's lap, and him stroking her hair softly. For a tough girl like Clarisse, she sure was a soft lover.

Luke came over, a beer bottle in hand, and sat next to me on the loveseat I had been occupying. Without thought, I lifted my legs up and draped them across his lap, leaning against the armrest. He smiled. "Hey."

"Hiya." I replied. This was supposed to be the meeting room and all, but when we all sat down, it turned out to be more of a relaxation room more than anything else. I looked over to the other side of the room, where Percy and Annabeth sat on one side of the couch, while Nico and Jess sat on the other side. Katie was seated cross-legged in the middle. Jason, Lee, and Zoe lounged in the bean bag chairs. We were all here and ready to talk.

"Let's get this done quickly, there's still a lot to do." Zoe started.

"Well, if you wanted to get right down to it, I have a question." Clarisse said.

"What?" Annabeth asked.

"Luke had a good point, why does the armor approve of those three and not us?" Clarisse glared at the three of them separately, letting out a little huff. "Not to brag, but I know _I'm_ much more worthy than my lousy brothers." Pollux leaned to kiss her cheek, trying to comfort her.

"Clarisse I can't answer that, it's the power that chooses." Annabeth sighed.

"Can we please stop calling it 'power'? I feel like we're stuck in a cheesy movie with a really bad plot whenever you say it." Lee said.

"Ohmygods, you're right." Katie chuckled.

"What else do you want me to call it?" Annabeth asked.

"Excuse me," Silena said, jumping into the conversation. "I've got another question. What do we do about our older siblings anyway? We have to meet them tomorrow night, and we have to get Rachel back, and we don't even know what they're planning."

"She's got a good point," Luke said. "We can't just fight them and break the building down. It's a club, there are pedestrians everywhere, it'll be too dangerous."

"This is going to take more brain than it is brawn." Zoe added.

"But at the same time it is a club." Pollux said. "You have to blend in, we can't go in there in armor, and we most definitely can't just stand around. They'll be dancing, we'll have to mold into the crowd."

Zoe snorted, "Ha! I'm not doing that!"

"Well, I'll do it." Silena said.

"I'm in." Jason agreed.

"Hold it guys, we're all going to have to go in." Annabeth said. "There's no doubt about that, but what club we're going to is the question. I don't know what the layout of the place is so we're going to have to work with what we have when we arrive."

Zoe grunted, "I'll go in but I'm not changing into a skimpy dress."

"I just said we'd have to blend in." Pollux reminded her and she threw her head back into her bean bag.

"That's not fair." She whined.

"Zoe, not all party dresses are skimpy, I'm sure I can find you something." Silena said.

"Most dresses you see in clubs are." Lee said.

"Not helping!" Silena said quickly.

"ANYWAY." I said, trying to get everyone back on track and gestured for Annabeth to continue.

"We're all going to have to fit the part like Pollux said, there is not debating on that topic. Our siblings are most likely going to want to negotiate with us since they picked a place so public." Annabeth explained. "I'm not planning on any fighting going on."

"If it's negotiating I say we pick the best speakers in the group." I said.

"That's a good idea." Beckendorf agreed.

"Well, then who would that be?" Katie asked.

"Luke," I offered and he looked at me, eyes wide. "And Pollux and Annabeth."

"Why us?" Annabeth asked and I sat up, taking my legs of Luke's lap.

"Well, Annabeth, you are just a good public speaker in general, being one of the main leaders at camp. Pollux, I can tell you're good with emotions and even though your dad can't, you seem better at keeping your temper under control. And Luke, you can twist words and get information from people when they don't necessarily want to give it to you. Also, I'd expect your good with negotiating due to not so recent events." I said and he let his head fall. I'm pretty sure working for the titans had put him in many different situations.

"_You're right, granddaughter,"_ A voice said, echoing against the walls. _"Luke did help me with many deals, some not as pleasant as others."_

"Get out of here, you disgusting bastard." Luke growled.

"_Don't be so cruel, Castellan."_ The voice chuckled.

"Kronos." I said.

"_Yes, Thalia, it's been awhile since we've talked, hasn't it?"_ He said. _"There are a few new faces here. And I see your brother has returned. It's not that often I get to see you, Son of Jupiter."_

Jason gave an involuntary shudder; I could see his jaw clench. "Leave."

"_Why? I have good news, well, maybe not exactly good." _He said._ "But it's another piece of information to add on the table."_

"What is it?" Annabeth asked quickly, eyes lighting up.

"_Ah, yes, the Athena child. Always desperate for new information."_ He said, by the sound of his voice, I could tell he was smiling. _"You believe you can solve this problem. Let me tell you the answer right now, you can't."_

"Try me." Annabeth said."Now, what's this information?"

"_Oh, it's about those siblings you've been having trouble with lately_." He said. _"I've guessed that by now you've figured out that they're enduring the same curse you are."_

"Well, for them, it isn't really much of a problem." Percy muttered and Kronos chuckled yet again.

"_Correct."_ He said. _"It seems that they're goal is to murder the Olympians, but even if they pretend to be on their side, they are not working alone."_

"Someone's helping them plot the downfall of the gods?" Annabeth asked. "Who is it? Minor gods? I thought we'd solved that problem."

"_Are you sure you're a daughter of Athena?" _He asked, amused. And then suddenly, everything fit into place. Those weird dreams, all of my drawings, all of us dying. Our siblings, our parents, us. It all led to the same answer.

"It's you," I said. "You're working with them."

"_Finally, some intelligence. I had hoped to have been gone by now."_ He said.

"That doesn't make sense," Annabeth stated. "If he's working with our siblings, why on Gaia's green earth would he need to curse us?"

"_Your siblings kill the gods, you kill them, I kill you."_

"But you just said you were working them! You're going to kill them." Annabeth said. "You make it complicated for no reason."

"_Yes, I'm working with them. Does that mean once they take over the position of your parents, I'm going to want them running around? No, that was never the idea."_

"Then what is?" Percy asked, eyes darting around the room.

"_I wanted to kill your siblings after they had killed your parents, because they would have been wild, untamed. They wouldn't know what to do after becoming an Olympian."_

"Let me guess, your plan failed?" Annabeth asked.

He chuckled, _"It didn't fail, it had to be. . .revised."_

"The prophecy." Percy muttered.

"_Yes, the perfect opportunity to take down your parents myself."_

"But you couldn't," Nico cut in. "They were to powerful, of course that should have been obvious. And that's exactly what happened to our siblings, they got to powerful, you can't get rid of them now either." It was like the air in the room had gotten denser, and I could almost feel Kronos turning his full attention towards Nico.

"_Correct, but it seems like you didn't need to guess. Had you already figured it out? Have you been seeing things? Pay attention everyone, this man is someone you'd want to look out fo—"_ Nico shot out of his seat, hand reaching up to grab something. It should have just sailed through the air, but instead his fingers closed around someone's neck. Or a faint shimmer of a neck, and a torso, arms and legs. The golden outline of a body was seen for a moment, but then Nico loosened his grip and walk out of the room. _"Touchy, touchy."_

"Was that?" Katie gasped.

"Their essence still remains after the war." Sammie said, glaring at the spot where the figure had stood. "If he succeeds in his plans, it won't be so hard for the titans to come back this time."

"But it's been two years!" Zoe exclaimed.

"_You talk as if I'm not here."_ He said.

"You shouldn't be here." Jason said, standing up. "Percy, I want to see where Nico went, come with me?"

"I was just thinking the same thing." Percy said, but Annabeth stopped him from getting off the couch.

"Wait," She said, and then eyed the air. "You didn't explain it all. If our siblings are so strong now, what makes you think we can take them down if you can't?"

"_My essence still remains, but I have no body—"_

"Yea, because our father's turned it into a million piece puzzle." Jason snorted and Percy choked.

"_Have your fun now, but soon nothing you say is going to matter."_ Kronos was calm, but by the way he spoke I could tell he was gritting his teeth. _"I am tiring of this conversation, but Athena girl, I will not leave you without an answer."_

A collective breath traveled around the room, waiting for the answer we should have gotten twenty minutes ago. I grasped Luke's hand tightly, and I could feel the blood pulsing in his fingertips. _"Your siblings will kill your parents; I have ordered them to do that. The only logical thing for all of you to do is kill them in pure rage and they will stand no chance. You are the rightful heirs to the throne, powerful and intelligent, every imperfection diminished. But still, you will all be young, and you won't be able to control yourselves. My siblings and I will rise and you will die. There is no other answer."_

"Wait, what do you mean by the rightful—" I wanted to ask but he cut me off.

"_Enough questions! If you're all so smart you should be able to figure this out, I'm sure your goat friend and the wise one can help you! There is not much reason for farewells, since I'll be seeing you very soon. Good luck."_ And with that, he was gone, the presence vanished.

"GROVER!" Annabeth screamed at him and he threw his arms up in the air.

"I'm sorry, okay?!" He yelled, taking a shaky breath.

"What are you not telling us?" Annabeth asked, voice still audibly loud.

Grover was silent for a moment, then shook his head in defeat. "He was talking about the 'rightful heirs thing,' Annabeth. I—I'm the new Lord of the Wild, if you hadn't noticed, and I—I . . ."

"WHAT?!" Half of us jumping out of our seats, screaming loud enough to scare a decent human being, but this time Grover didn't even flinch. He just looked at his with dark, stern eyes.

"I can sense, I can _tell_ which people I'll be living with. Which group of people I belong with, and it isn't your parents." He said, speaking in a way where he was not yelling, but his words shook be to the bone. "Kronos was right, I'm sorry, but there's nothing you can do."

"That's a lie!" Clarisse said, voice thick, as if she was about to cry.

"It's not!" Grover yelled. "And Annabeth, you know it!"

Now, it was Annabeth's turn to be cast in the spotlight, and she didn't seem to like that. It was almost as if she had receded into a shell, arms clinging to her sides and eyes glued to the floor. Anything to make herself seem smaller. Percy stood up and placed his hands atop her shoulders, but she shrugged it off.

"Go find Nico." She said quietly.

"No, Annabeth, it can wait." Percy said quickly.

"GO FIND NICO. BOTH OF YOU." She demanded and Percy stumbled back, eyes wide. Jason grabbed him by the arm, and they fled from the room. The second they left, Annabeth collapsed on the couch, hands coming to rest upon her mouth. Surprisingly, the first one at her side was Zoe, arms around her shoulders. Shaking her head, Annabeth looked at me.

"Thalia," She said. "At breakfast, about what you said. . .or well, almost said. Was it. . .Thalia, what have you been dreaming about?"

"It's just about us. And we're fighting and we're dying, but I don't know who's dying. It's all a blur of colors and figures and I'm hearing my name over and over again, but there's two people shouting it at the same time. I don't know which one to pick and it's driving me crazy and I'm sorry it's taken me so long to say this. Oh, gods." I said, and Luke pulled me back down on the couch, wrapping me in his embrace.

"Annabeth," Silena said. "Was he right? Is there no other answer?"

"I don't know, everything is such a mess right now. I can't make sense of anything in my head, it's all so confusing." Annabeth said. "I think there is, but I'm not sure, he's got to be messing with us. Gods damn it, I thought I had this all figured out."

Silence swept across the room and it stayed like that, for a long time. Everyone kept to themselves, drowning in their own thoughts, but when someone finally spoke up, nobody was prepared for what they were going to say.

"I still want to go back to the topic of armor." Clarisse muttered.

"WHY?" Annabeth whined, agitated.

"Because!" Clarisse screamed, bolting up off the couch. "You said that whoever gets that armor is worthy. And like I said before, I don't want to sound arrogant but I am much, much more worthy than my horrendous brothers. They think they're better and stronger just because they like to kill and hurt. Well, you know what, war isn't about just killing and that's something they can't seem to grasp. But I do, I know it's not just about pain. It's about loss and bravery and all of that other shit that people never pay attention to. I'm ten times more worthy than my brothers will ever be and if my dad can't see that then what's point!? Let the stupid titans rise and let me die!" She fled the room, tears streaming down her face. Pollux jumped up and followed her in haste, calling out to her.

"Well, this just got a bit awkward." Luke said.

"It's been awkward for the past hour." I grunted.

"I totally understand her, you know," Lee squeaked. "Parent's approval isn't exactly common with demi-gods, and Annabeth, how you described it, that's basically what it sounds like. It's not like a lot of us were expecting to get armor, but I guess now we know the truth about whether they really care. . ."

"Aw, sweetie, I'm sure they just can't decide, well at least their subconscious can't decide." Silena said, in the most comforting way she could muster.

And that's when it clicked.

I could see the gleam in her eyes, the slight squint of her eyes, and the smile that was waiting to happen. The light bulb over Annabeth's head just shone so bright it exploded, and my heart swelled with hope.

She spoke, "I've got it."

"Got what?" Katie asked.

"What Lee said, and then what Silena said, it just clicked." Annabeth said, a faint smile on her lips. "About the whole 'power being transmitted' and 'choosing who is more worthy' thing. Our parent's powers may have taken a life of their own, but they're still trapped in their bodies. And our parents still have to follow rules."

"I'm trying to understand," I said. "But . . ."

"The Olympians have one rule that we all know, they can't interfere in our lives, but more specifically, they can't interfere with our quests." Annabeth said gleefully, looking around at us like it was simple logic. "Come on, guys, think! We would have all gotten armor already, but it's because they can't interfere, and that rule is messing with them subconsciously. Their stupid immortal powers can't choose, because that rule is there."

"That makes sense." Zoe said. "And. . .this has only happened once because our parents had never paid attention to their heirs as much as they have with us?"

"Yes!" Annabeth yelled.

"But, then what about the armor? If our parents approve of us, why did the three of them get it and not us?" Lee asked.

"I'm sorry, Lee, it doesn't mean that they approve of us. Their "powers" are just deeming us better for the throne, and that could be for better or for worse." Annabeth gave him a sad smile. "But the armor shouldn't have appeared on them, it was forced on them, it came from pure anger. So, I guess you could say all that built up energy was locked in a jar and the second they got angry, it just exploded."

"So, you want us to fight each other?" Luke asked. "Do we even have time for that? Is that even safe?"

"No way!" Katie protested. "Those imbeciles were about to rip each other apart, what happens if one of us gets out of hand? It's too risky."

"We could, but it would take too long, I've got an idea." Annabeth turned her head towards Grover, who had fallen silent. "Have you gotten better at talking to the Olympians? Even Mr. D?" He gave a slow nod, trying to decipher the plans concealed in her words. Her smiled only grew wider.

"Here's what we're gonna do."

Clarisse:

The sobs that spilled from my mouth were uncontrollable, and I had choked on them several times. Tears poured down my face and every time one dropped onto the stone floor I silently reprimanded myself. Stupid, stupid, stupid. Why run out of their crying? That was so weak, so vulnerable, so girly.

If I was the heir to my father's throne I had to be tough, strong; fearless. I couldn't show any cracks, I couldn't slip, and I most definitely could not cry in front of those other idiots. I shouldn't even care, it was armor. A bunch of metals plates and leather straps that I could have made for me by anyone. Heck, Beckendorf could probably make armor ten times cooler than anything my brothers would get.

Somewhere, a door opened and I could feel a slight draft sweep throughout the room. It caused the scent of wine to make its way up my nostrils, and I choked on the strange mixture of wine and mucus. Disgusting. The door shut and I thought whoever had come in quickly left once they'd heard me crying, but footsteps sounded as they padded down the stone steps, coming to a stop next to my huddled figure. They took a seat next to me, scooting as close as possible, and wrapped an arm around my shoulder.

"Clarisse." Pollux said. "What are you doing down here? In the winery?"

I gave a sarcastic smile and tried my best to sound like I hadn't been crying a river, but it didn't work out. "What are you talking about? I always come here when I'm feeling down on myself." He chuckled, and I grumbled to myself.

"Clarisse," He said, grabbing my chin and forcing me to look at him. "What's wrong? This isn't like you, and I know you, don't try to fool me." I ripped myself from his grasp, looking the other way, anything I could do as to not meeting his gaze.

"Pollux, you just don't get it!" I started.

"You're really going to pull that one on me?" He asked.

"Alright, well, do we even have time for me to whine? Don't the need us back in like, I don't know, now?" I said.

"As long as you're upset, I've got all the time in world." He said and I snorted.

"Pollux. . ." I began, but hesitated.

"Yes?" He asked. I swallowed my pride and kept my eyes down.

"I just wanted to know, i-if you and the guys think, that I-I'm kind of, you-you know, um, weak?" I muttered, lip now trembling along with my hands. I was on the verge of crying again, oh this was so pathetic.

"Wait, Clarisse, what did you say? I couldn't hear." Pollux said, genuinely concerned, and that only added to the heartache in my chest. I had one of the kindest boyfriends in the world and I couldn't even talk to him.

"I wanted to know if you guys, like literally all of you guys, think I'm weak." I said, louder this time.

"What?" Pollux blanched. "Clarisse, have you lost your mind?"

"No!" I yelled. "Now, answer."

"Why would you even need an answer to that question?" He countered.

"Because, I'm a girl and you're all guys, and I don't know, maybe you guys think I'm weak, and if you do than, than I'm gonna show you that I'm not." I said and buried my face in my palms. I sounded so stupid.

Pollux sighed, wrapping both arms around me this time, pulling me into a warm embrace. I lifted my head, and not trusting my voice enough to speak I kept silent, sniffling just a bit. His expression was a mix of sympathy and disbelief, as he pushed back a lone strand of hair behind my ear and brought his hand to rest atop mine.

"Clarisse," He began, but the words seem to get caught in his throat and he let out a small, breathy laugh.

"What's making you so nervous?" I asked.

"The fact that you think you're weak," He said. "Clarisse . . . do you honestly know how strong you are? I'm scared of you, Luke's scared of you, Beckendorf's scared of you, Lee's scared of you; we're all scared of you. And no, we don't hate you or dislike you, we admire you. An admiration that is unwillingly given, of course. None of us want to admit that, as sexist as this sounds, a girl is better than himself, but—"

"That's the point!" I said. "I'm a girl, a silly, little princess."

"But you're the exception," He said, ignoring my comment. "Actually most of you girls are and it really frustrates us sometimes, but we don't think for one second that any of you guys are along lines of weak."

"But that's. . .that's not what I'm trying to say. . ." I said.

"Then what is?" He asked, eyebrows knitting together.

"I'm the only female heir for a god, Pollux." I confessed. "There isn't anybody else."

"Ohhh," He said, coming to a realization. "But what about Thalia?"

"Don't try that," I said. "You know she's got the whole half Hera-half Zeus thing. It's just not that same."

"But still, Clarisse, you think that changes the way we see you? I just told you how we felt about you. You're strong in our eyes, nothing's going to change that." He tried to convince me, but I didn't say a word and my guess is that he got fed up, because he grabbed my chin again and forced me to pay attention. "Clarisse, when I see you, I see your father's wit and fight and determination. I see his anger too." I laughed, hiding my face in his shoulder and he buried his face in my hair. "You are one of the strongest people I've ever met. You're brave, and stubborn, and you're the perfect heir for Ares. It doesn't matter if you're a girl, if anyone can make him proud, it's you."

"Really?" I asked and he nodded vigorously.

Without thinking, I lifted my head off his shoulder and gave him a kiss, to happy to think of another way to thank you him. He smiled at me. "What was that for?"

"For being the best gods damn boyfriend I could ever ask for." I said.

"Well, if I'm the best then, may I have another?" He asked.

"Seeing as you asked nicely, I guess it wouldn't be a problem." I said, kissing him again, but this time we didn't pull apart so quickly. I placed a hand at the nape of his neck and he pulled me closer, one of his hands ghosting across my neck, getting tangled in my hair. We broke apart, our foreheads touching and breath intermingled; a smiled tugged at my lips.

"You taste like sweet wine." I whispered.

"Really? I thought it'd be bitter." He smirked.

"No," I kissed him again, running my tongue along his bottom lip. "Definitely sweet."

"Um, we should probably head back." His said, voice gruff.

"Yea, you're probably right." We stood, stretching our limbs from sitting for so long. He kissed me once more on the cheek and together, hand in hand, we walked out of the room. Hopefully, our friends had figured something out in our absence.

Nico:

I was pacing around one of the many underground rooms in the castle. It was dark and cold, but it reminded me of the Underworld, so I felt comfortable here. It was excellent place to summon ghosts, sadly I couldn't really do that much anymore, or else they'd rat me out to my dad and tell him my location. Despite how cold it was, my body heat was off the charts, I'm pretty sure if I were to touch the brick walls, this room would turn into a sauna.

How did he know? How did he know what I've been thinking about, what I've been seeing? Even if he could read my mind, why would he say it? No one needs to know that there's a good chance we're all going to die. But who even knows what's going to come after that, I don't even know! Everything after our deaths was just blank, who knows who one or what happened. Then again, how could I know if I was already dead? I stopped mid-pace, resting my forehead against the wall.

I inhaled. Maybe if I just took a moment to think through this I could find an answer. No one needed to know how bad this curse had gotten except for me and there just had to be a solution. Nobody was going to figure this out. I exhaled. That's all I need to do, stay calm.

"NICO!" Voices bellowed from the staircase across the room. Shoes scuffed and pounded against the stone steps as they made their way further down. Can't they understand that when I leave it's obvious I want to be alone?

"Get out of here." I said before they could even get into the room, it didn't matter, they'd hear me.

"No!" Percy yelled. "We want to talk."

"About what?" I asked, snapping my fingers. A circular pool of dark liquid formed in the middle of the room and a small dagger appeared in my hands. Hopefully, this would fool them.

"What else?" Jason yelled. "Why'd you run away?

"No reason, he was just pissing me off." I said simply and both of them came sprinting into the room. Jason tripped and almost fell into the pool. I smiled as he gave me a look, "Don't fall in."

"Nico," Percy asked, out of breath. "What are you doing?"

"Talking to ghosts. What does it look like?"

"Oh, no, that's a lie. Both me and Percy know he said something to get on your nerves. What are you keeping secret from us?" Jason said, sticking a finger in my direction.

"I'm not keeping a secret." I lied.

"Nico, are we really going to start lying to each other, now?" Percy asked.

"I wouldn't mind it." I said.

"Oh, haha, very funny." Jason snorted. "Well, I mind and as hard as it is to believe, I kind of care. You guys are . . . the closest things to family that I've got, besides Thalia of course. So, you better start confessing your sins, skeleton."

"Very clever." I commented, trying desperately not to cave in.

"Nico." Percy said, catching my eyes. I could see the vulnerability clear as day in his irises. "Come on, man, please."

I crumbled, but only a little. "It's not safe for you to know."

"Not safe," Percy said. "Are you kidding me? When's our lives ever safe?"

"Nico, just spit it out." Jason said. I gritted my teeth. There wasn't any way I was going to distract them, all I needed was a distraction. Thankfully, luck was in my favor.

"Hey, guys." Beckendorf said, standing in the doorway. "Annabeth came up with this awesome plan, and guess who helped her figure it out?" Just then, Lee came up behind him and jumped into view

"I did!" Lee yelled. "Told you guys I wasn't an imbecile. Zoe has to take back everything she's ever said about me."

Beckendorf laughed, "Yea, she does. Come on man, let's go, we've got a few more traps to work on." As they started the climb back up the stairs, Beckendorf called out to us, "You guys might want to get up here too! Annabeth needs to tell you her plan!"

"See," Percy said once the sound of their footsteps had disappeared. "We have a plan, we can solve this, why can't you tell us what's wrong?"

"It'll just cause a panic, no one needs to know but me." I shouted. "Just listen to me for once. I can handle myself."

"Yea, we know that," Percy said. "Doesn't mean we don't care."

"Well, did you ever think for a second I'm not telling you because I care too?" I said.

"Yes, Nico, we already know you care, but if you got so angry over such a little comment, than there has to be something wrong!" Jason yelled.

"Just tell us!" Percy said.

"No!" I said, trying so hard not disappear in the shadows.

"Nico!" Jason yelled. "Please!"

"NO."

"YES!" They shouted in unison and I had reached my breaking point.

"FINE!" I screamed, pressing the dagger to my palm. "Do you want to know what's so bad? What I can't tell you? What I didn't want to tell you because it shows how deep in shit we are? Well, then take a look. It doesn't matter if I cut my hand or yours, the same blood will flow from it!" I cut a deep line in the center of my palm and lifted it over the pool. "The only thing that matters now is the color."

We all watched as the golden ichor seeped from my hand and mixed with the dark liquid below.

Olympus Throne Room:

The throne room was silent, and even though sun shined down Olympus, the immortals were constantly dozing in and out of sleep. The past few days had taken a toll on them, which wasn't something they were used too. It was a new thing and it scared them. Currently the only one awake was her majesty, Queen Hera.

She kept her posture straight, even though there was no one around that she needed to impress, and her hands grasped each other tightly in her lap. There weren't many things that could shake the goddess to her core, but this was one of them. A cold presence had swept across the room and she went rigid.

"Get out of here." Her voice shook. "You have no right to be here."

"_I have every right to be here."_ He said. _"Aren't I allowed to come visit my children?"_

"You are no father to us," She spat. "Leave immediately."

"_Don't be so cruel, maybe if you show some compassion, I'll let you live."_

"There won't be any need for that, I'm not going to die." She said, but her heart sank, there was no denying what the Fates had shown her.

"_We both know your future, daughter,"_ He said, voice ringing in her ears. _"Possibly if you were to surrender, no one would get hurt. I know after all, those twin archer's wouldn't dare hurt their mother."_

"I'd never abandon anyone here." She said. "You cannot change my mind."

"_Very well, but a word of advice, be careful around—"_ Kronos was cut off mid-sentence, his aura fading from the room. It was replaced by a feeling only slightly less colder, but yet it still comforted the goddess more than the other. She glanced over at her brother, who still looked to be sleeping.

"He was getting annoying." Hades muttered, not caring enough to open his eyes.

"Oh," Hera said. "Well, thank you . . .brother."

". . . You're welcome."

* * *

><p>Thanks for reading and please review!<p>

Also, about the chapter I had some A/N. I usually don't have any, but whenever I do I put them at the bottom, because I know people don't usually enjoy reading them (trust me, neither do I).

1: Were you guys surprised that Kronos was working with the siblings? Because I couldn't remember if I had said that in the beginning and I went back and re-read everything and I couldn't find anything.

2: The ClarissexPollux scene. Yes, I know it's not canon and it will never be canon, but I've established this way in the beginning that they're a couple and I thought they deserved sweet little scene. Because, I don't know, when I first thought about this ship, I actually kind of liked it. You know, since Pollux lost his brother and when Clarisse lost Silena they could just hang out and talk about it and Pollux could smuggle some wine, and ya' know I really liked it. (Rambling, sigh.)

3: Clarisse in general. I feel like as strong as she is, she'd feel insecure about being the only girl there that has the curse for a male god. Maybe it'd make her feel stupid, or pathetic, or actually even a little _more_ manly. Which is why she got so insecure.

That's about it. See you in the next chapter!


	31. Chapter 29 - Part 1

ATTENTION: THIS IS ONLY PART 1

I'm so sorry it's taken so long to get this chapter out! And it may be a little shorter than my last chapter because it's only part one! I would have had the full chapter out, but I've just gotten out of school and now I'm going on vacation so this is what I've been able to write in that time. Part 2 will be out when I'm done with vacation which would be about two weeks...of course, I need time to write it once I get back. See? Busy, busy bee.

But, I seriously am very sorry that I was able to get this to you quicker, and I do love to write, I really do (I want to be a writer!), but school just gets in my way _all the time_, and it's so hard to work around it. At least I am planning to finish this fanficiton this summer, because it's honestly been long enough. So, I guess that could be taken as good news? At least you'll finally get to see the ending?

Well, now that I've explained myself, I hope you enjoy:

* * *

><p>Percy Jackson – SECRETS – Chap. 29<p>

Percy:

"Okay, so that's the plan." Annabeth finished, a big smile on her face. "What do you guys think?"

"I love it!" I said.

"It sounds full proof, Annabeth." Jason smiled.

"I get to break stuff!" I exclaimed.

"Me too!" Luke said.

"Hades yes!" I said. We high-fived each other.

"Gods, it's nice seeing you to be friendly with one another." Thalia said.

Luke stuffed his hands in his pockets and ducked his head down, "Oh, shut up."

"It's. . .a really good idea, Annabeth. It doesn't sound like we could lose, not in the slightest." Nico said from the corner he had been standing in. Everyone turned to look at him, still curious about why he had run out before, but Annabeth just smiled wider.

"Thanks, Nico." She said and then gave one loud, single clap. "Alright, everybody! To work! We have a few more hours until we have to start getting ready!"

The group cleared out, several of them splitting into pairs to work on small projects. Zoe had dragged Lee to the infirmary, talking about some "magic pills" or. . .something. I don't know, Apollo had medicine covered after all, not Artemis. Katie and Pollux ran off with them, rambling on about growing some type of fruit that will "immediately heal us." It was weird, because Katie had been so strict on the not-using-our-parents-divine-power-or-else-it-will -be-dangerous but, I guess she changed her mind.

"Hey, Jason!" Beckendorf yelled as he was leaving. "I need you to come check your sword out, I don't know how to use this material for it; it keeps shocking me!"

"Wait, you took my sword?" Jason asked, running after him.

"Yea, I asked Luke to steal it when you weren't looking." He said.

"Oh, come on!" Jason said, throwing his hands up in exasperation, and they ran off to the forge. I kept still and looked around, not really knowing what to do. Annabeth hadn't assigned a job to me so I guess I was free for awhile. It would have been smart of me to work on _something_, especially under our circumstances, but my first thought was: swimming. That would have been a great way to relax, but right when I was about to leave, my eyes landed on Nico, who was still standing in the corner. For a moment there was a silence, a very awkward silence, but then he spoke up.

"Thanks for not telling everybody about that little show downstairs," He said. "Thanks to Jason too, I don't know what I would have done if you guys had told everyone."

"Don't sweat it, Nico." I said. "Of course…an explanation never killed anyone."

"You sure about that?" He asked.

"Yes," I sighed. "Just tell me, don't hide anything. I'm a big boy now, I can handle it."

"Alright," Nico said, looking me up and down apprehensively. "Come with me to the kitchen, I was gonna get something to eat."

"But I wanted to go swimming." I whined. Nico just rolled his eyes and left the room, myself in tow. We walked through the corridors, heading towards the kitchen, and Nico shoved his hands into his back pockets, letting out a tired chuckle.

"You know, five years ago I thought I'd end up graduating from military school and going off to work at a business corporation or something." He said. "Didn't think I'd end up here."

"And I didn't think I'd ever get out of Gabe's stupid apartment, but look at where I am now." I said. "Stop stalling, Nico."

"I'm not stalling!" He said simply.

"Yes, you are. Come just tell me. Please!" I begged. Nico looked like he wanted to strangle me but he just threw his hands up in the air and gave strained yell.

"Oh, fine! Fine, fine, fine." He said. "Okay, Percy, you know how this whole cursed thing works, right?"

"Yes, Nico. Power from our parents gets transferred or like, copied, into us and then once it's done we'll be just as strong as them." I said, sounding like I was reading from a textbook. "Oh, yeah! And was we recently found out we cannot just overthrow them, but kill them too."

"Good job," He said. "And what happens when all that godly power first enters our bodies?"

I stared at the ground, "Bad things…really, bad things."

"Yeah," Nico said, and I saw his hand moving to cover the top of his left arm. His scar. "Bad things, but what happens after that?"

"Well, after the person's body adapts the power is constantly flowing through the body. Turning the person into a god—wait, why are we talking about this? I already know this. Haven't we gone over this like FIFTY BILLION TIMES?" Percy said. (Only A/N in the actual story EVER: Hehe, I just broke the fourth wall.)

"Ok, I'll get to the point," Nico said. "All that ichor that was pouring out of me, it's because the power has infused itself with my body. It's one thing for the power to just be flowing through us, it's another thing for it to seep into our muscles, and mix in with our blood cells."

"So, it's infused with us now?" I asked.

"Basically," Nico said. "But only us and it only happens every once and awhile…I guess. I haven't really figured out all the small details yet, but all in all: It happens to the kids who have the curse the longest, aka Jason, me, Thalia, Katie, you, probably Beckendorf, and we might not see the gold blood that often. It only can out of my hand cause I had touched our stupid grandfather."

"Oh," I said. "So, you touching him just sort of set everything off? Made all the power go out of control?"

"Yea, like the same thing with the armor." He said.

I paused for a moment, thinking over a few things, then asked, "That's it?"

"Yep, pretty much." He said as we walked into the kitchen. He directed me towards the table and I took a seat, watching him move about as he picked up several different things from the fridge. Finally, he picked up two glasses and a wine bottle, setting them down on the table before he took his seat across from me.

"This is what you call a snack?" I asked, looking at the vast array of foods that he had laid out in front of me.

"Yea," Nico nodded. I shook my head, trying to not get distracted.

"Ok, so the ichor is just basically showing us that we're getting worse?" I asked.

Nico swallowed the food he had been chomping down on, "Yeah."

"Why didn't you want to tell anyone about that?" I asked. "Nobody would have gotten mad."

"I wasn't worried about them being mad," Nico said, holding my gaze in his. "I never was. I just didn't want anyone to panic, and more importantly, I didn't want anyone giving up. Can't have anyone losing hope at the moment, can we?"

"No, I guess not." I said, leaning back in my chair.

"Now," Nico said. "What do you say to having a drink or two before our big night?" He popped the top off of bottle and let the wine pour into our glasses.

I gave him an amused grin, "That'd be great."

Someplace Somewhere:

Rachel's head hurt and she didn't like it. Her head was pounding, lights were dancing across her eyes, and she swore she could hear music playing from somewhere in the distance. Blinking a few times, she sat up, her surroundings coming into focus with immense clarity. _What's going on,_ she thought, _this place isn't the same as the room I've been in for the past few days. _Rachel looked down to finally see the so called "masterpiece" those invisible servants had been working on and almost cringed. She didn't even want to describe it, all it even was to her was just lace and purple and make up and _heels. _

"Gross." She said aloud, standing up without thinking. Unfortunately, lying in a bed for a large amount of time had not done her well, and Rachel stumbled, falling into the arms of none other than her very own lover boy.

"Finally awake, I see." He said, a sweet smile gracing his lips.

"Thomas." Rachel said, voice neutral. "You're looking quite happy."

"Well, why wouldn't I be? You're friends are about to be out of our lives forever. I couldn't be happier." He said. Rachel gave him a dirty look but decided to take in her surroundings instead of continuing the idiotic banter. There was a bed covered in silken sheets (the one she'd previously been on) and two nightstands, one dresser and a strange, twisting object in the corner that looked like it could be a lamp, but she wasn't sure. One wall was total glass, and behind it Rachel could see flashing lights. The wall opposite had a small two-paneled window, which was covered by dark shades.

Thomas noticed her wandering eyes, "Do you like the room? This club is a lot nicer than I expected it to be."

That would explain the music.

". . .and they have this whole, um, "contemporary modern" theme going on. I still have to catch up on how much this world has changed."

That would explain the lamp.

"But I'm learning pretty quickly. I'll have too once our parents are dead." Bile had risen in her throat, how could he say _it_ so calmly? How could he just talk about their parents like that? Rachel snapped into action.

"You're not going to win." She spat.

He gave her a quizzical look, "Why would you say that?"

"Because you're all a bunch of arrogant jerks. And if I've learned anything from my few years with these demi-gods, it's that you arrogant jerks _never, ever_ win." She said.

He chuckled. "Listen, beautiful—"

"Don't hit on me, it's gross." She said.

Thomas shook his head and took a step towards her. She stepped back, an unspoken warning in her eyes. "I'm going to tell you something. You're wrong. You're the oracle! You know you're wrong! Please, look me in the eyes and tell me that you haven't seen the cruel, depressing fate that awaits your friends. I know you've seen it, it's not possible that you don't know."

Tears prickled at the corners of her eyes, he was right, Rachel couldn't deny that. He smiled sympathetically and closed the distance between them. He held her face in his hands, wiping away one stray tear with his thumb. She grasped his stupid, silky dress shirt in her hands, not sure where this was going.

"Please don't cry, you're too beautiful to cry." He said softly. Rachel looked up at him, eyes shining, mouth agape.

"How. . .how can you tell me I'm beautiful. You can't even see my face under all this shitty make up!" She screamed at him. Tightening her hands in his shirt so he couldn't get away, Rachel kneed him in the groin and pushed him back. "And I told you not to hit on me, you jerk!"

He glared at her, clutching his pants and almost keeling over. She saw the fire in his eyes and decided to get out of their before he could get back on his feet. She made a desperate sprint for the door but he grabbed her anyway, pinning her against it with one hand and clutching his groin with the other. "You're going to regret doing that." He growled, coming to close for comfort. Rachel had no idea what he was planning but it didn't take long to figure it out once he smashed his lips against hers. He grasped her wrists painfully tight and bit her lip, but she wouldn't open her mouth.

Giving up quickly, Thomas ripped her away from the door and threw her own the bed. "No!" Rachel shouted. "Don't you dare!"

"The oracle can always find someone else." He said, jumping on top of her and removing the belt from his pants.

"Get off of me!" Rachel yelled. She tried kicking her way free but her legs were trapped underneath his and grape vines had literally appeared out of _nowhere_, to tie her wrists together. He came to kiss her again but she turned her head away. He simply shrugged and started kissing down her neck, leaving small love bites that could be considered bee stings more than bites. Rachel didn't know what to do, she had no way out, no answers. There wasn't anyone who could help her. . .well, maybe one. It's not like the girl was Rachel's friend, she was part of this little group of crazies, but she was in the building and Rachel was almost 100% sure she did not approve of rape.

"Theia! Theia!" Rachel screamed, hoping her voice was heard through the walls and over the loud bass coming from downstairs. "Theia!"

"Shut up, would you? She'll kill me if she finds out what I'm doing." Thomas said, his voice calm and collected as if he was simply doing daily chores.

"You're sick! Disgusting! You're a pig!" She cried. "Theia, Theia, please help me!"

"You've got to be kidding me." He said, smashing his lips against hers, successfully silencing her screams. She bit his lip, but all he did was bit back and worked on unzipping her dress. _Well,_ Rachel thought, _I gave it my best. _ Her eyes started stinging as she desperately tried to keep from crying, Thomas would not see her cry. This horrible, pathetic douche bag, would not see her cry. Rachel decided to just close her eyes and let him get it over with, but before she could, something caught her attention.

It was a faint outline of a body, composed of a green mist, floating right above them. The mist seemed to concentrate and Rachel concluded that it was definitely a woman, who was starting to look very, very angry. The mist lady lifted her hands up and Rachel saw two sets of long, extremely sharp claws. She started screaming through Thomas' kisses and thrashed wildly against the bed.

"Oh, what is it?!" Thomas asked, pushing off her some. It was at this moment Rachel noticed a single, key characteristic of this floating lady. A pair of bright green, glowing eyes.

"No way." She said, not able to look away. Thomas followed her gaze.

"What are you looking a—holy shit!" He yelled.

"Get your hands off my host!" The women screamed, hoisting him up by his shirt and flinging him across the room. "She clearly does not want you to touch her, so you will not touch her. DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME?"

"Yes!" He said, scrambling up off the floor.

"Hey, was someone calling my name befo—" Theia said as she walked in, stopping short once she saw the mess in front of her. Slowly scanning the room, her eyes narrowed only when they caught sight of Thomas. "That's what you get. I told you not to do it, but you didn't listen." She said and hauled him out of the room, slamming the door shut behind them.

There was a strange silence that followed their departure and Rachel wanted to say something, anything really, but she was in shock that the oracle was standing in front of her. The oracle that was supposed to currently be taking residence inside her body.

"You're the oracle." Rachel stated.

"Yes." She said.

"You're standing in front of me." Rachel said.

"Well, I'm actually floating, but yes." The oracle said. "Are you okay? He didn't hurt you, did he? Like hurt you, hurt you."

"Uh, no." Rachel said, checking for any rips or cuts. "You sort of got here just in time."

"Oh, that's fantastic. Thank goodness." The oracle sighed.

"But can I ask how you did that? You know, throw him across the room?"

The oracle eyed Rachel, giving her a sly smirk and resting her hands on her hips. "What? You think because I'm mist I can't do anything. Sweetie, I may need a host but I'm not powerless."

"No! I didn't think that at all! And by the way, you talk a lot different than how you usually give prophecies." Rachel said. The oracle waved her hand and shrugged her shoulders.

"Eh, that's just for show. If everyone can modernize, why can't I? I was stuck in that attic for years and you've finally given me a chance to catch up on everything." The oracle said.

"Oh, well, you're welcome?" Rachel said, still unsure of how to talk to her. "So, are you going to go back into my body now or. . ."

"What you don't want to talk to me?" The oracle said, now forming into a much more beautiful woman than the clawed villainess she had been two minutes ago.

"No, no! I'd love too and I'm very thankful that you saved me it's just. . ."

"You want to be able to see what will happen to your friends." She said.

"Yes." Rachel smiled. "Please."

"Of course, sweetheart," The oracle said. "But just one thing."

"Mhm?"

"Don't give out any information to your friends." She said.

"What?!" Rachel exclaimed. "They're the ones I want to tell! Those bastards ripped it out of me! Percy wouldn't do that, I just want to help them! They need all the help they can get."

"I know," The oracle said. "There have been many details about future events revealed in the previous days and that isn't a good thing, but you must understand that's not the reason I'm stopping you. If you tell them anything, it will not turn out well. Please, please do not ignore this."

"That makes no sense." Rachel said, close to tears. "You know, you _know_ what will happen if I don't warn them."

"I do, but I also know what will happen if you do tell them. Please, I cannot return to you in peace unless you tell me you won't speak a word of our knowledge to them." The oracle said, staring at her intently.

Rachel's breathed hitched and she took a deep breath, "I promise. . .but when will I learn why I can't tell them?"

"You will soon, my darling, very soon. " The oracle said, kissing Rachel on the forehead. "Sadly, it's now the time to say goodbye."

"Goodbye," Rachel said quietly and the oracle hugged her close, running her fingers through Rachel's hair soothingly. Rachel inhaled through her nose and she was able to catch the scent of the oracle, which consisted of apples, flowers, and the Big House attic, before she disappeared and was replaced by a green mist. It swirled around Rachel, flying right into her mouth and leaving her stunned. She didn't know what to do for a moment, but it seemed that was already decided for her, because suddenly her eyelids dropped down and the last thing she could register was her head hitting the pillow.

And then she slept. And she dreamed. And she learned.

Luke:

"Time to get ready!" Silena yelled, running into the kitchen, several different clothing garments in her hands. Everyone was currently eating lunch and she got various "are-you-crazy?' looks.

"It's only lunch." Thalia said, a ham sandwich three inches from her mouth.

"Um, excuse me! You want to go confront these people at a club and you want to sit around eating? Nope, no way. We are all looking perfect." Silena said, putting her hands on her hips which caused various garments to drop to the floor.

"But we're only going there to fight them," Annabeth said. "It's not like we have to look good."

"Are you kidding? Of course you do, it's all about presentation." Silena said.

Jason snorted, "I doubt it."

Zoe sighed, "Listen, Silena, they don't care how we look. They just want us dead."

"And we are we going to get clothes?" Percy asked. "I mean, our closets are like huge, but do they have club clothing?"

"Yea, they do. I checked." Pollux asked.

"Not helping." Lee said.

"It doesn't even matter." Clarisse said, glancing at her best friend. "You're not even going to get me into a dress, Silena."

Silena narrowed her eyes, "Wanna bet?"

There was a blazing, white flash and I was standing in a store. A huge, two level, air-conditioned store that spread out in front of me. I glance up and saw the second level, all I could recognize were suits that looked like they were more than a few drachma and I groaned inwardly.

"I refuse to wear a tux." Jason said, pointing upwards.

"What just happened?" Lee asked.

"I transported us here." Silena said, walking down the tiled pathway a few feet.

"You did what?!" Katie screamed.

"Oh, man, my sandwich!" Thalia whined.

"I'll get you another one." I chuckled, wrapping my hand around her waist. She playfully elbowed me in the gut.

"Hush, hush, Katie." Silena said. "If I didn't we'd never have any time to get ready."

"Silena, baby," Beckendorf said. "You might be going a little too far."

"Too far?!" A voice sounded off nearby and a man walked into view. "There is no such thing as too far when it comes to fashion." He was of an average height, a little taller than Silena herself, and had on a well-tailored pair of dress pants. Along with the stereotypical business shoes, vest and tie.

"Who's this?" Zoe asked.

"Me?" The man said. "I'm Jonathan, son of Apollo."

"Really?!" Lee yelled, clearly excited.

"Oh, yes," John said. "Very good archer, one of the top healers in my cabin, but I had a real passion for fashion. . .and this really cute Ares guy. We fell in love, but I wanted to start a business and I didn't know how to do that, until my boss made me a deal and I couldn't refuse. The only bad thing about it, is that I had to move to Italy, and it wasn't even terrible. I love it here, it's a beautiful place."

"And your boyfriend followed you out here too." Silena added. I decided to assumed she had already met this man and heard his life story beforehand. "It's so romantic."

"Actually, that's fiancé now." John said, showing her his ring.

"Ohmygods!" Silena squealed. A chorus of congrats spread through the group and John blushed.

"Oh, thank you, you're all so sweet." He said. "But, back to the main topic. My friend Silena here told me you needed some nice clothes and fast. Well, don't worry, Omega is the right place for that."

"Omega?" Nico inquired.

"The name of this store." John said. "It's one of the most popular stores for celebrities, of course, I get quite a lot of gods and goddesses in here as well. It's big and bright and it's all mine. My boss works wonders."

"You have gods and goddesses come here for clothes?" Katie asked. "Jeez, who's your boss?"

"That would be me, of course." Someone said from above and everyone looked up to see a woman standing at the edge of the second floor, hands on the railing. She was clothed in a stunning, green toga with gold embellishments that seemed to wrap around her body in the just the right way so that it would show off her curves. The color of the toga was almost as amazing as her piercing green eyes that seemed to watch even our slightest movement. Her hair was long and dark and braided to the side with threads of gold woven in with it. My mouth was agape, along with everyone else. She smiled down at us and even_ that_ was dazzling. I only realized something was wrong when I saw Annabeth grasp Percy's wrist tightly out of the corner of my eye. Their faces were not one's of awe, but horror, and Annabeth had her dagger in hand. "It's nice to finally see the two of you again. You've grown so much. Annabeth you're so beautiful, such a lovely young lady."

"Percy. . ." Annabeth said, voice weak. "Let's get out of here."

"What seems to be the problem?" John asked. "I swear to you, she is a kind women, she's never done me any wrong."

I glanced around, looking for an explanation from someone—anyone—but they were all still mesmerized by this lady. Well, one thing was clear for sure, she wasn't human and she wasn't a monsters. So that only left one option. I pulled away from Thalia, walking a few steps ahead of everyone else, praying that my sword would appear in my hands so I didn't look like a complete immiscible. Thankfully, it did.

"Who are you?" I said, as loud as I could, pointing my sword accusingly. Her head turned and her eyes stared down into mine. I saw pictures of an island and pirates, fires and screaming women.

"Luke Castellan, you will lower that weapon in my presence," She said with so much authority that it dropped right out of my hands. "I am Circe, goddess of magic."

* * *

><p>Thanks for reading! It means a lot! 3<p>

Also, if you're confused on anything, just ask me, because it's honestly been too long since I've uploaded another chapter and some things might be confusing now. I know I got a little confused, had to do some research and re-reading. The fun stuff.

Alright, bye bye! :)

© All characters belong to Rick Riordan, except for Thomas, Theia, and John. Fanfiction is mine.


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